Links Lost in Time
by SamiraChristine
Summary: A/U Maka wakes up stranded in the middle of a desert. Remembering only her own name, she stumbles upon a man who also landed in the the desert. Neither of them knows who they are or how they got there, all they know is that they are somehow connected.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first attempt at a fanfic, or even publishing my writing for anyone to read other than me. Feedback is appreciated! Thanks.**

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She felt above all else the heat bearing down on her as she struggled to pull through to consciousness. All of a sudden she realized she had been plummeting through the air. She only had a few moments to process this before she made solid contact with hot, hot sand. She felt like a meteor smashing into the surface of the earth. The impact of her fall radiated into the ground around her, as though it were shaking the planet to its core. She laid there in the sand feeling the aftershock in the ground beneath her. She felt nothing but a moment of dry heat and sand blowing over her as the darkness won against her in the battle to remain conscious.

She felt herself floating aimlessly through the darkness. Aware that her body was somewhere hot and sandy, probably roasting away. She couldn't bring herself to be concerned, in the darkness of her mind. She didn't think of anything, couldn't really think of anything before she started to feel a weird tug at her consciousness.

The heat of the sun eventually coerced back into consciousness. She carefully rolled onto her back shielding her eyes from the sun with one sore arm.

"What the hell happened..." she mused out loud.

She sat up and tried to take in her surroundings when she felt a deep pounding in her head.

"Ughhhh" she clutched her forehead and waited for the ache to subside before she looked around again. It appeared as though she were in the middle of a desert and on the horizon, very, very distantly she noted two settlements of some sort. One looked smaller, the buildings all low to the ground, the other rather large. The bigger settlement almost looked like it centered around a large garish looking castle. The smaller buildings around the castle all on an angle building up to the castle in the center, creating a spike in the horizon that was aimed straight into the sky.

She tried to lick her dry cracked lips but found her mouth to be too dry. She decided to walk towards the smaller settlement. "I'd rather _not_ go to that freaky looking castle..." she said to herself, voice as dry and brittle as she felt.

As she began walking towards the cities she felt the atmosphere throb around her as her head pounded again. The intensity of it all made her drop to her knees.

"What the hell is happening and where the fuck am I!" She croaked in frustration through the pain.

The throb in the atmosphere happened again but this time she noticed something falling through the sky in the distance. It looked like a person but surrounded in some strange glowing aura. The light falling through the sky pulsed again making her head throb again, but less violently. It actually felt more like a tug now. Like this light was pulling her towards it. She felt like her very consciousness was being pulled at by who-or whatever was falling from the sky.

As the thing in the sky got closer to the ground she gasped as her suspicion, that it was a person, was confirmed. "Oh no…" She whispered in shock at what she was seeing. She began to run forward as she watched the body collide with the ground in a puff of dust.

"Oh shit! Are you okay? Hey kid!"

She kept yelling as she got closer.

Of course he's not okay, you moron, you just watched that thing drop like a rock from Lord knows where, she silently chastised herself as she got closer. As she came upon the body in the sand a small voice in her mind reminded her, "Is this what happened to you?" She couldn't deny what she felt before she passed out not too long ago, the sensation of falling through the sky to meet the ground below.

She wrung her hands nervously and knelt beside the body. She tried to remember anything about treating injuries but found her mind blank. She couldn't remember anything except falling. Inspecting the body she noted two things, it was male, and he was still breathing. She struggled to roll the man's body over, remembering for herself what it was like to wake up with a mouthful of sand.

His appearance was so strange she wasn't sure what to do with the man she had rolled over and cradled in her lap. At first glance she thought he was an old man because he had a full head of stark white hair. But after looking at his features more closely she realized he was in fact fairly young. Probably, in his twenties. She waited a moment before trying to rouse him.

"Hey mister," she said patting the side of his face. She shook him a little.

"Wake up kid!"

His eyes fluttered open and she gasped as her eyes met his deep red ones.

"Who are _you_ calling a kid," he mumbled as he sat up, "You barely look like you've hit puberty."

She resisted the urge to hit the guy as a reward for his sarcasm. Her fingers twitched and she had to remind herself he had just fallen out of the sky. Come to think of it, so had she…but they were miraculously still alive... She stared at nothing in particular, trying to comprehend what was happening. The red-eyed, white haired, sarcastic man cleared his throat loudly and she realized he was looking at her expectantly.

"What?" She snapped.

"It wasn't rhetorical, who are you?"

She wasn't really sure, and she wasn't really sure how to answer. Then she recalled her name, as though the breeze had whispered it in her ear. It was quickly on her tongue and she heard herself say it aloud, "Maka, my name is Maka."

She locked eyes with him as she said it. "Who are you?"

"Soul," he reached a hand out to her and she took it.

The impossibility of the whole situation hit her as she shook hands with the stranger and she began to laugh.

He laughed a little too, looking uncomfortable. "What's so funny?"

"Well, I don't know anything about myself or why I'm here, I only just remembered my name when you asked it. I fell from the sky. Passed out in the middle of this desert, for I don't know how long, woke up to a pounding headache. I felt, before I even saw, you fall from the sky. And now we're shaking hands like this is all _totally_ normal and we just met at a party or something."

He grinned a little and she noticed all his teeth were pointy, combined with the red eyes he looked a little menacing, but she couldn't even care. She was in the middle of the desert with no one but him, if either of them wanted to survive and figure out what happened, they'd likely need each other.

He stopped laughing abruptly like the tragedy of the whole situation struck him for the first time, "What do we even do? I don't remember anything either."

She was glad he said 'we' and she wouldn't be wandering through he desert completely alone.

"I guess we... try to make it to one of those cities over there," she said pointing behind him. "And, not to be bold, but... I think if nothing else we were meant to find each other, or figure this out together... or something. I can't really explain it though ..." she trailed off knowing it was true as she was saying it. She couldn't quite explain why, or how but she knew that they were somehow connected in all this. She did feel a strange connection as he was falling through the sky, and now that they were near each other it only solidified this weird link she felt. This need to keep him near. She blushed at what it may have sounded like but relaxed when she saw that his jaw was set firm and he nodded in response.

"Good..I-i.. It's gonna sound weird but I was kind of conscious as I was falling and... I think... I think I like... was pulled from where ever towards you. It was almost like I was on a tether and someone had yanked me... I felt like I was free falling and then all of a sudden it's like my fall found purpose or a specific trajectory...It's.. weird..sorry..I know it's weird. Never mind I said anything." He got red in the face and wouldn't look at her. She empathized with the guy, knowing how weird it all felt and sounded, she wanted to let him know it was okay, like she wasn't freaked out, by him anyways.

She smiled, "No weirder than free falling through the atmosphere into a desert and living to tell the tale, right?"

He looked up, relief coming off him in waves. He gratefully returned her smile and nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

This time Maka did not resist the urge to smack the strange man she found in the desert. Her and Soul had been walking towards the small desert city for at least three hours and he had been whining nonstop for at least half that time.

"Why is it so damn hot," he grumbled one time too many.

"Maaaa-kaaa, CHOP!" She screamed as she slapped him upside the back of the head.

"What the hell Maka."

"You earned that one by being a whiney baby Soul, I cannot help the temperature just like I cannot help that we somehow got-stranded-in-the-desert," she also could not help how hysterical she had started to sound.

She took a deep breath and focused her energy on not sounding as shrill as she had before, "Look, the sun is starting to come down anyways. It's already getting cooler."

"Damn Maka relax, we're almost there anyways," he said while he continued to rub the spot on his head where she hit him.

"So, do you think we should wait until it's dark before we go anywhere near that place?" She asked nodding towards the town.

He stopped and circled her like a vulture, appraising her up and down.

"Well," he said as he came to a stop in front of her, "You look like shit. So I'd say, yeah we should wait."

She growled and threw another punch at him. This time he dodged.

"Fool me once," he said as he danced out of reach.

"Yeah yeah. I don't get how you're already being such a douche. We just met today, and you know we're probably gonna be stuck with each other for a while. Couldn't you even put up a polite front for a little longer?"

"Why bother," he responded. "You know there's something fishy here. Talking with you is weirdly familiar, and I know you feel the same. Either way, no nice girl would throw a punch the first day she meets a cool fellow like myself." He grinned gesturing at himself.

"I think the heat is melting your brain. Illusions of grandeur are not a good sign Soul," she sighed as she dropped to her knees in the sand. "So we should just wait here then?"

"Well, if my instincts are right, which I _think_ they usually are," he paused and winked, "then no. We should circle the perimeter from a safe distance and see if there is a relatively secluded way to enter the town. We go in around dusk, when people typically turn in, and try to find a way to clean up change, get some fucking water, and then plan from there."

"That sounds utterly impossible. Who the hell were you before this…like…were you a pretend spy or something, did you set up camp in imagination land?"

"Not cool Maka. Do _you_ have a better plan, one that does not involve making fun of me?"

With a heavy sigh she heaved herself back up, "No. No I do not. I am just hot, and thirsty, and dirty, and confused, and really fucking tired Soul. You are a total stranger and my only lifeline. I know the second I'm alone with my thoughts I am going to freak out because this is all really _really_ scary. I don't remember much, but I _know_ people don't just hurtle through the air and crash into deserts."

"Okay, okay, you're right. This is all super fucked up. Bring it in kid."

She cocked an eyebrow at him, "Bring what in?"

"I was trying to be nice. I was going to give you a hug? What are you a cyborg?"

"Ew. Settle down I'm cranky, not ovulating."

He looked truly horrified and she couldn't help but laugh. An honest to God laugh, even in the midst of this strange chaos.

"Phew. Sorry Soul, I pegged you for the highly squeamish type, and you did not disappoint," she said as her laughter subsided.

"You are a damn bully lady, and I don't think I like it."

"Whatever," she responded, "Let's just keep going I want to get closer before it gets dark."

The sun began to set as they approached the city. Luckily some shelter was provided by the many rocks and boulders leading into the town.

"Alright Soul, I know you like to act like you know what you're doing but this could get weird for us so.. are you sure this is going to work out okay?"

"Well for starters what are you even afraid of? It's not like you're a wanted criminal or anything... I mean, you're not are you?"

"No, you moron," she calmed a little after a moment, "But I guess you're right," he looked at her curiously. "I don't know what I'm nervous about," she continued, "I just am I guess. This is all really weird Soul and pretty scary. It was more about getting out of the desert before, but now I can think about something other than getting out and I'm scared. I don't know who I am, where I'm from, how I got here, or even how to get back to where ever I came from. What if I'm gone for a reason? What if no one is even looking for me where I'm from?"

His curious gaze hardened, "Alright Maka, enough of the pity party, you're better than this," he responded harshly.

"Excuse me?!" she raised a hand to slap him but to her surprise he stepped towards her and caught her hand before she could make contact.

"I don't know you at all Maka, but I already know you're better than this. This is all really fucking weird, and granted pretty scary but we are gonna clean up, get some food and water, and figure this shit out. Something strange is going down, but we got each other now and we have to find out what happened to us."

She considered his words carefully as he gave her a hard look before walking away. Maybe she couldn't remember who she _was_ but she could certainly take control of who she _is now_. With that her resolve hardened and she took off after Soul, only a few steps behind.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright Soul, we should try to clean up a little, in case we bump into people."

"Okay but I don't really see how," he grumbled.

"Well let's see," she walked up to face him. "Dirty hair...hmm...just shake out the sand. Muss it up a little."

He raised an eyebrow, and she nodded encouragingly. He shook his head back and forth a little, "Ta-da?"

"Ughh no, here I'll help. Bend over a bit so I can reach your head." He squatted a little so he was closer to her height and leaned forward. "Close your eyes so the sand doesn't get in there."

She shook all the sand out of his hair and tugged some strands down to make the whole mess a little less scary. "There," she said stepping back to admire her work, "Got that intentional bedhead look going on. Not bad."

"Now shake your clothes out from some of the dust. I'll turn around," she instructed after taking in the dusty black jeans and black t-shirt. She found the weird logo on his shirt interesting. It was a cartoony mouth with pointy teeth with the word eat around it. All done in thin yellow lines.

After a few minutes of cursing and clothing flapping around she turned to check him out.

"There, are you happy now?" He growled as she looked him up and down.

While he still looked a little beat up, it was much better. He might even be attractive under the dirt, and attitude.

"Not too shabby, too bad you'll still stand out like a sore thumb."

"Why is that?" He asked, sounding a little guarded.

"Well, red eyes, pointy teeth, white messy hair. Don't come across that...ever. You kinda look like a demon. Are you a cosplayer?"

"I'm weird looking..?" He sounded a little hurt and he slouched as if to protect himself from her gaze.

"It's not bad, it's just different. To me anyways... I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

"Well what do you know anyways. It's not like you remember anything about anything at all. Maybe you're the weird looking one. What grown ass woman wears pigtails anyway?" His sarcastic attitude back in place.

She hadn't even considered what she looked like. She had no idea what to expect as she reached for her hair. As Soul had mentioned she had two sloppy pigtails drooping from the sides of her head. She ran her fingers through the silky hair and looked at it for the first time. Sun caught some of the less dirty strands and reflected off her soft ash blond hair. "I guess _I_ did," she responded as she pulled the elastics holding her hair out. She bent over to shake her hair out and when she felt like she got most of the sand out she pulled it into a messy bun.

She looked over and noticed Soul was deeply invested in something in his hands.

"What's that?" She asked as she took a step closer.

"It's my wallet I guess. I found it when I shook out my pants."

He pulled out a driver's license.

"Soul Evans," he read aloud, "Camden, Maine."

"Mr. Evans, of Maine," she said as she gave an exaggerated curtsy.

"This is good information Maka, do you have a wallet? Maybe there's more information about you?"

She reached into her front and back pockets and emptied the contents.

"No wallet, but I did find...27, 36, 65 dollars, and a piece of paper."

"Nice! Combined we have a whopping...136 dollars! Tonight we dine like kings! What's the piece of paper?" He asked as he noticed her unfolding it.

"It's a note..." she trailed off as she began to read to herself.

 _Dearest Maka,_

 _I know what I did was despicable. I don't know how or why it happened. I guess the boys and I just got carried away at my bachelor party. I know it's not an excuse. But I wish you'd have it in your heart to forgive me. I know you already called the engagement off and you probably hate me. But please. Please. Let me talk to you in person, or at least take my calls. Maybe we can work this out. I know it's all really difficult for you, particularly because of your history with your father but I swear I'll never do anything like this again. Let me show you, give me a chance to show you how great we were and can be. If you have it in your heart to forgive me meet me tonight where we had our first date, 8:00 p.m. I'll be there._

 _Love Always._

She felt her stomach churn. She was engaged to a man who was apparently a cheater or something, and according to this man's note she likely didn't get along well with her father either. Maybe it wasn't so bad to be so disconnected from that life now. Her face may have given away some of the turmoil she was feeling because Soul came over to stand next to her and see the note.

"What's it say Maka?" She quietly handed him the note and continued to check out what else she found in her pockets.

In the depths of one of her back pockets she found a ring. A small plain gold band with one diamond in the middle. She looked at her left hand and sure enough there was a faded tan line from where her ring used to be.

Soul looked up from the note when he was done and saw that she was still looking at both the ring and her left hand. "Oh shit," he said, as he took a step back.

"What?"

"Are you okay? He was probably an asshole anyways..." He trailed off as she looked at him. He was alarmed by he small smirk she had.

"I'm fine. Remember? Can't remember a single thing. I can't miss what I never had. On the other hand. We can probably pawn this off too have a bit more money."

He seemed unconvinced she was okay, "Are you sure you don't want to keep that? In case things eventually go back to normal?"

"It may be a necessity, either way I doubt I'll be devastated. You read that note. Who knows how long he's had to wait already. Oh speaking of. What year is on your license?"

"2016," he responded immediately.

"Cool, hopefully we can find a newspaper or something. Alright hold all this and turn around," she said as she handed him the contents of her pockets, "It's my turn to dust off." She pulled her dark red tank top off and shook the sand out of her shirt and bra. Then she struggled out of her black skinny jeans and gave them a good shake too. After she was clothed again she felt more comfortable, and less sandy.

By the time they decided to stroll into the city like nothing was wrong, the sun had already gone down and the last light was fading from the sky. They had come into the town near a small cluster of already closed shops. There were few people around and those that were out seemed eager to get home. Everyone looking tired and a little worse for wear.

"Do you think it's this miserable looking everywhere or are these people sad looking because they live in the middle of a desert?" Asked Soul dryly.

Maka shrugged in response and continued to scan the buildings for a place they could stay. Up the small street to the right she saw the neon sign for a motel. "Let's go there. I'm sure there's food and water and I would kill for a shower." She said as she pointed the to the Oasis Motel sign.

They walked into the little building. Tucked neatly between a sad looking laundromat and a small diner.

She handed Soul her cash, "You go ask how much for a room. I'm gonna go check out that newspaper stand."She left him at the main counter to check out the small pile of papers.

"The Desert Gazette," she read. She searched below the title for the date. Wednesday, July 23rd, 2056

She gasped a little, "Holy shit, 40 years," she whispered to herself.

"We'd like to get this too," she said as she walked up to Soul at the counter.

"Complimentary with the room m'dear," said the old man behind the counter as he handed soul a key card on a purple lanyard. "You folks will be in room 207, up those stairs, right hallway on the left side," he pointed at a small staircase behind them.

"Thanks," said Maka brightly as they turned to walk up the stairs.

As soon as they entered the little room Maka stopped and slouched against the closed door while Soul walked in to investigate the room.

"Sorry Maka, it was way cheaper to get a room with just one bed. I figured we should be careful with our money." He turned to look at her when she didn't respond. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the door.

"Whatsa matter? I really don't want to sleep in the floor, but if it's that bad..."

"No, it's not that. It's this," she said as she handed him the newspaper.

Bewildered he reached to take it from her, "What...?" His eyes quickly scanned the front page. He whistled. "40 years huh..."

She nodded. Still reeling from the surprise. She didn't know what to expect but she certainly hadn't expected that.

"Alright Maka, why don't you get in the shower. I'll run over to the diner. Get some food. And we can eat here and read through this newspaper, see if we can figure some shit out."

"Yeah, okay," she said as she got up. She was grateful for the time alone to clean up and shake off the shock of how long it had been. She got up and went into the bathroom. She heard the front door close behind Soul as she turned the shower on. She picked up the little bottles off sink to read them.

 _"_ Coconut Shampoo, luxury on the go! Coconut Cream Hair Conditioner," she read to herself. She grabbed the little bottles, along with the small plastic wrapped soap and hopped in. If she thought she had cleaned up a little before she was wrong. "Ew," she mused as she watched the water run brown and murky off her body. She shampooed her hair twice, just to be sure before, she got out of the shower. She was surprised by how soft and fluffy the white towels were given the obvious aging of the motel. She left the bathroom wrapped up in her towel. Opting not to wear the dirty clothes again just yet. She made her way to the bed and sat down before flicking on the TV. She searched briefly through the channels before settling on a news broadcast.

 _... unanticipated meteor action has been reported in several states suggesting that satellites are no longer able to relay as much information as they had before the Kishin mobilization... Finally new reports have surfaced on the movements of controversial and wanted Doctor Frank Steinzle. Before he was wanted by Kishin officials for his resistance he was known for his controversial research on souls. Shortly after Kishin Leader Asura announced a world wide ban on any unapproved science and research activities Steinzle went into hiding and had not been heard from in almost 6 years. However, he's back in the news because of the untraceable release of this footage._

At that point a grainy video clip began to roll. It featured a grey haired man in a lab coat with strange scars on his face trailing down his arms. He spoke with urgency and Maka's full attention was on the television.

She heard Soul walk into the room and before he could say a word she sushed him and pointed deliberately at the television without turning away. He looked confused but he quietly edged in. They both listened to the grainy man from the television.

 _"I know about the time links. I'm here to help. If you fell from somewhere. If you just appeared here from another time,_ find me _. Return to the location of your landing leave me a sign on how to find you. I know where you landed I will come by within the week._ _Make yourselves known to me when you see me. I can find you. I know what you need. Come with your linked partner and come and find me. I need your help... And you need mine."_

And with that the footage was over and the shot returned to a rather stricken looking newscaster.

The woman telling the news looked upset, frightened almost before she managed to clear her face of emotion and say, _"Apologies from WorldWideNetwork News. It has just been discovered that the video was a hoax. The Kishin government urges all people to disregard the last story but to report any sightings of the mad Doctor Steinzle."_

Maka and Soul looked at each other thoughtfully.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't until later, when the lights and TV were off, and they were both in bed, that Maka became keenly aware that she was in bed, with a man she only just met that day. They remained on polar opposite sides of the bed facing each other. Soul's face looked eerie with only the blueish light flashing from the bedside alarm clock to light up his strange features.

"Hey Maka?," Soul said quietly.

"Hmmm?"

"I just want to say, thanks for not running away screaming in the desert and you know, thanks for waiting 'til I woke up. This is all too fucked up to have to deal with it alone. And also, I think we're going to be stuck pretty close like this for a little while so we don't have to be weird about it or anything... I- I won't try to…uh… jump you in bed...or-or anywhere."

She snickered before responding, "Thanks for that… I think this is going to be ...quite challenging in a lot of ways. So I'm glad you're here too."

She could faintly see Soul's smile in response. It was a little frightening to see his pointy teeth in the dim light, but then again, she didn't mind it. When he ate it was like a normal person so the teeth probably didn't mean anything.

In the quiet dimness Maka began to contemplate life as it was. In another life she was almost married, was estranged from her father, and somehow squeezed into stupidly tight, black jeans that were not well suited for deserts. What if she never learned more about herself, _or_ what if she learns more than she wants and it hurts to find out what she's missing? What if there is no reason for her being inexplicably preserved and saved for a future she had no knowledge of? That was probably the most disconcerting, that all this was for naught. She had begun to worry herself into an uncomfortably dark place mentally when Soul quietly interrupted her reverie again.

"Maka?" It was almost a whisper.

"Yeah?" She whispered back.

"I'm kinda...scared," he said, even more quietly than before.

She hesitated a moment before responding, "Me too."

She was surprised when Soul reached across to gently grasp her hand. She was more surprised when she gripped his hand in response. They stayed like that, just quietly holding hands in the small dark hotel room. Sooner, rather than later they were overcome by the exhaustion of the day and they fell asleep.

Soul woke up the next morning surprised to find himself wrapped around a pretty blonde girl. He contemplated how that happened, and was deciding how best to untangle himself from her when the memories of the prior day came rushing back. He raised his head to look at the time on the clock, it flashed 4:30 a.m. and he groaned internally. He lay back down and closed his eyes trying to go back to sleep. He thought about what his life must have been like before and remembered something he had learned about himself yesterday. It was when he was finally alone, locked in the bathroom to wash off the dirt and exhaustion of the day. When he pulled off his sweaty clothes he found rows of neat scars all over his body. Thin white lines in almost parallel columns lined his forearms and hips. Some seemed fresher than others but the majority were quite faded, no longer raised but just pale lines trying to remind him of a past he knew nothing about. He had run his hands across them all and gasped slightly when two on his left wrist still hurt to touch. They looked quite recent, like they could've been done yesterday, and he wondered how his body had completely stopped moving in time for 40 years. He had tried to ignore the slight pain he felt in his wrist from scrubbing the cuts clean by humming a melody in his mind. The same tune started playing in his head again sending him into that hazey before sleep headspace. Soon he forgot about his shower discoveries and his mind wandered back where he was. It was right before falling asleep that he realized that, holding Maka felt nice and in a way familiar, but he recognized somehow that being close to someone and falling asleep with the warmth of another was fairly novel to him, even in the past.

Several hours later he woke up. This time alone in the bed. He stretched out and rolled into the middle of the bed before he groggily rubbed his eyes and checked the time. The blue digital numbers flashed 10:23 a.m. at him. He sighed and sat up. He considered getting ready or even moving at all for a few minutes when he heard Maka enter the room from the front door.

"Okay so, I went out and scoped the neighbourhood while _you_ were sleeping in and-"

Soul cut her off, "If you think 10:30 is 'sleeping in' we will not get along lady."

He smirked in response to her dangerous glare.

"Aaaanyways, I went and pawned that ring and I found a cheap shitty boutique that sells cheap shitty clothing. I tried my best to find stuff you'd like... But the options were pretty minimal," she tossed him a bag of clothing. He dumped it out on the bed and poked through it. Amongst the loose clothing was a small plastic package. He grabbed the package, "100% Cotton Boxer Briefs," he read, "How...thoughtful of you."

"Sorry...I-I figured they'd be important. I guessed with the sizes. Uhm yeah but there's other stuff too," Maka said. Soul noticed she stammered a little and was bright red in the face. He grinned at her noting how uncomfortable she was.

"Just look at the rest and we can take back whatever doesn't fit," she grumbled at him.

"Cool thanks," he said as he started looking through the rest. There was a pair of black sweat pants, a pair of dark jeans, a pair of athletic pants, the kind with the white stripes up the side, and a few light t-shirts. He picked up to admire one of the t-shirts. It was black with dark red sleeves and a small dark red pocket in the chest. He had to hand it to her, the things she picked were pretty dead on, he usually only wore black. He saw that she had also grabbed a light long sleeve hoodie. It was dark grey and pretty unremarkable, but really soft on the inside. "This must've set you back a fair bit Maka, you didn't have to do this. You should've saved your ring," he said feeling a little guilty.

"Naw, seriously I have no attachment to that ring. Besides, none of that cost more than five dollars, except for the jeans."

"Cool, so what did you get yourself," he said nodding at the two bags she was still clutching.

"Well I got myself some clothes too, and a few supplies in case we need them...when we're out in the desert."

"Oh right. We have to meet the crazy scientist guy at some point."

"Well first we have to give him a sign where we landed. Then he tells us where to go and what to do. But I don't know which landing sight we go to, mine, or yours. _And_ I don't think we'll be able to locate the precise spots anyways."

"That sounds pretty hopeless..." Soul said.

"Not entirely. I asked around a bit when I was shopping, and this man has made a few appearances in the news. Being weird, shouting about people falling from the sky in pairs. So I'm thinking we find some place to read every newspaper since before we got here, and maybe search online."

"Where the hell could we do that," he responded skeptically.

A dreamy look came across her face as she responded, "A library," she practically sighed when she said it.

"That's new," Soul said with a knowing smirk.

"What?" She snapped.

"You, Miss Maka, are a huge nerd."

She flung her arm around and launched her bag of clothing into his face.

"Oof," he grunted as his head snapped back from the impact.

"Serves you right,' she mumbled as she walked back over to the bed to gather her clothing. "I'm going to shower, and get dressed in clean fresh clothes on and maybe be rid of this awful B.O. for good.

She huffed off to the bathroom and Soul was left to wait for his chance to get ready.

"Oh, make sure you keep the toothbrush you got from the hotel. Even at the crappy boutique those things were overpriced," Maka called back as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Alone in the bathroom Maka finally took a moment to look at her self. Last night she was tired and confused and didn't take much in, today however, she tried to take stock of what she knew.

One, she had long ash blonde hair that she apparently liked to keep in pigtails. Two, she had green eyes, and lightly freckled fair skin.

Three, she fell to earth from outer space, but had existed for some twenty something years in the past first.

Four, she had a shark toothed companion whom she found from the desert.

And five, she was almost married but then left her fiancée after he cheated, and apparently her father sucked too.

So basically she had no one to count on but herself, and a stranger, oh and apparently she likes books, judging by the warm and fuzzy feeling she got at the idea of finding a library.

She sighed heartily before she ditched her reflection to jump in the shower. Moments later she emerged feeling even cleaner than before, knowing that she didn't have to put the same clothes back on this time.

She pulled on plain grey yoga pants, opting for something a little more pleasant in the heat than jeans, and the new plain white, v-neck t-shirt she bought.

She used her fingers to comb out her hair and stared for a minute, wondering if she should honour her old self by putting her hair back into twin pigtails, or going for the easy bun from before. She settled on something in between and pulled it all into one high ponytail.

"Here we go," Maka said before leaving the bathroom to see how far along Soul was in getting ready. Admittedly, she was not surprised when she found him as he was when she left for the bathroom in the first place. "What are you doing lazy bones. We should get out of here for check out so we don't pay for another day."

"You're not the only one that wants to be clean when they finally put fresh clothes on," he said gruffly before getting out of the bed. He grabbed some of the clothes from the pile of new stuff before shuffling off to the bathroom grumbling the whole time.

Maka smirked as she heard snatches of his grumbling. "…mornings…stupid…no late checkout…" The door slammed shut behind him as Maka started going around the room to organize and pack their meager belongings. She hummed tunelessly to herself as she split the supplies she bought amongst her, and Soul's backpacks.


	5. Chapter 5

"Alright Soul, I'm just gonna ask the receptionist where the biggest library is, you can wait outside if you want."

He shrugged then went to wait just outside the door. Maka went up to the counter to speak to the receptionist.

There was no one there, just a small bell with a note next to it that said 'Ring for Service'. She raised her hand and gently tapped the bell with her palm. A moment later the same old man from the day before came out of a back room.

"Good morning dear, I hope your stay went well enough. I dare say you and that young man looked truly worse for the wear yesterday when you checked in."

"Oh yes, everything was fine," Maka smiled in return. "I just have a question before we go."

The man nodded, "Alright, what can I do for you?"

"Where is the biggest or most extensive library in town?"

"Well...there isn't anything worthwhile in town unfortunately. Just some smaller collections at the high school. But if you want something more thorough they have a large library at the next town over. I'm not sure what you're searching for but they have all sorts of archived information. History on this area too, which is pretty unique to that library as well."

"I'm sorry we aren't from anywhere near here what's that town called, and the library, and finally...is it possible to walk there?"

The man chuckled before responding, "Well, not to deter you but the town is called Death City, and the library is just Death City Public Library. It is about a two hour walk if you're up for it. But I would leave as soon as you can or else wait 'til after high noon. It gets really hot out here."

"Okay, thank you sir, oh do you mind giving me directions?" She added as an afterthought.

"Oh, of course," he said as he reached below the counter. He pulled out a small folded map. He opened it up and uncapped a red marker. He marked a little X, "So this is where we are now. If you follow this street right here," he drew a line from the X, "It will take you right to the edge of town and the main road to Death City is a straight shot, and it's clearly marked. The library itself is near the centre of the city at the base of the Death City College Castle."

"That creepy building is a college?"

The receptionist chuckled and nodded.

"Thank you again, so much, how much for the map?" Maka asked.

"Don't worry about it dear, safe travels to you and your partner there. You should take off, he's looking rather impatient," he pointed to the door where Soul was glaring through the window.

"Right, thanks again!"

Maka headed to the door where Soul was waiting on the other side.

"So do we know where we are going or what?" he said as he fell into step beside her.

"I think so, it seems pretty straight forward," she said as she handed him the map. He looked it over before handing it back.

"So basically we're taking a boring walk through the desert for two hours. Got it."

"Yeah well…yeah." She didn't know what to say. They didn't have much to talk about given that they didn't know much about themselves. And the walk itself could not possibly be too fun, given the plain sandy landscape.

They followed the red line on the map out of the small town. Near the outskirts Soul stopped to look at something in a shop window.

"What is it Soul?" Maka said as she stopped a few steps ahead of him.

"Can we go in here for a second?"

He said slowly, his eyes still glued to something in the window.

"Uhm, I guess so," Maka said hesitantly, unsure of Soul's sudden shift in mood.

She quietly followed him into the store. She waited by the door as he went to talk to the sales lady. She looked around and realized most of the stuff was second hand. It had a few new things like plastic sunglasses and baseball caps. But mostly there were tiers of used CDs and shelves of books and random trinkets. After a few minutes Soul came back over stuffing something into his backpack. Maka looked at him expectantly as they stepped out of the shop.

"Sorry, saw something that I felt somehow connected to. It was like it jogged an old memory or something. I just don't know what."

Maka shrugged, "That's fine. Are you ready for this walk? It's this road here and it goes all the way to that city there. It's going to get pretty hot."

"I don't think I'd ever be ready enough so let's just do it."

They started walking along the side of the aged dirt road silently. They continued that way for quite a while before Soul broke the silence.

"Ughhhh," he groaned. "Why did we have to get stranded in the middle of a desert? Why couldn't it be somewhere with moderate temperatures, like Canada."

"What? Canada? But come to think of it," Maka started, "We haven't really thought to ask anyone where we are relative to the world."

"Shit. You're right, how stupid was that," he responded.

"Hey, you know what's weird about all this?" Mused Maka out loud.

"You mean besides **all** of it," Soul drawled back sarcastically.

Maka threw him a glare before continuing. "We remember pretty much everything there is to remember except for specific things like who we are and how we got here."

"What?"

"Yeah like, we know how to talk and shower and walk, we know we are in a desert based on features of the landscape. But do we know how we got here? Or even who we are? No. But if you think about it, that's a very isolated part of our minds."

"So, whoever did this did it intentionally?"

"Maybe, but from the type of world I remember I don't think that's a normal memory. I think this is unprecedented."

"Well, we are kind of, sort of remembering-ish things," Soul said tentatively.

"What do you mean?" Said Maka as she watched her shoes sinking into the sand, one foot after the other.

"Well when we were walking passed that weird shop I saw this thing and I just felt like it was somehow important," he said as he fished around in the backpack. Maka stopped walking and watched Soul as he pulled a palm sized object from his bag. He opened his hand and showed her what he'd found. It was a small trinket shaped like a sea shell. It was brushed in blue and turquoise iridescent paints. Maka stared at it in wonder and gingerly picked it up from his palm. It was heavier in her hand than she had expected. Soul watched as she looked at it more closely, then as she opened it to reveal that it was a small compact mirror.

Soul's eyes widened with horror as all of a sudden Maka pressed her hands into the sides of her face and dropped to the ground with a shriek.

"Maka?!" Soul said as he dropped to his knees and pulled her rigid body towards him. "Maka?! What's wrong? Maka!?"

Maka felt a wave of images and sounds slam into her consciousness the way a baseball bat slams into a person's head. Her vision went dark and just as suddenly she could see a scene unfold before her. It was what had to be a younger version of herself standing in the doorway of a small tidy bedroom. Next to the small bed with the tightly tucked plaid bedding, was a small wooden night table. The young Maka walked right up to it and picked up the small shell shaped compact, but rather than looking at the compact, she looked at the paper beneath it. She picked up the letter and read it. Maka read it too, as if with the teenaged girl. There was a date written in pretty cursive writing in the top corner 8/22/2010 and the rest of the letter was written in pretty cursive hand writing.

*** My Dearest Baby Girl,

I'm sorry I have to leave you in a hurry like this but I just have to go. It's hard for me to be around your papa right now. Things just aren't right for us. But that doesn't mean he's not right for you. Regardless of what has happened between me and your papa he's always loved you more than anything. I know you'll miss me because I will miss you too, more than I can describe. But you'll be better off here with your father. I promise I'll be back for you when the time is right. I love you so much Maka.

Love forever,

Mama***

Everything went black again before Maka could even register what had happened. She woke up back in the desert to Soul shaking her and screaming her name.

"Oh my god Maka, what the hell was that?" He said as he squeezed her in an awkward hug. She realized she was laying down and Soul had her half cradled in his lap. They were on the side of the long desert road with the creepy castle still far in he distance.

She sat up, "I don't really know..." She picked up the compact from the ground beside her. "But this...this used to be mine, in my old life. And when I touched it, it was like the memory I associated with it came rushing back."

"It rushed back pretty fucking aggressively. You screamed and fell and started convulsing. I had to hold you until the tremors stopped and then you went completely limp. I thought... I thought you died. I was really scared. You can't leave me here Maka it's too much. I know you don't owe me anything, but fuck when I thought you were a goner I was really freaked out."

The fear in his voice was so clear she could feel it in her bones. She got a sense that this wasn't the first time he had made such pleas to someone. "I don't plan on going anywhere," she grumbled. "Besides, where would I even go?" She huffed as she stood up.

"Right." Soul said as he stood up too. His eyes remained trained on the ground in front of them as they fell into step together, resuming their trek to Death City. They continued to walk in silence, Soul still refusing to look anywhere but at the sand in front of his feet. Maka could tell he was still upset by what happened.

"Why do you think they call it Death City?" Maka said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Dunno," he shrugged.

Maka didn't like how sad he was. She could feel it. Maybe he couldn't remember, but she could tell this sadness ran deeper than what had just happened. She sighed and grabbed his hand, "Soul." He stopped and finally looked at her. "I'm not going anywhere without you. There's nowhere to go and nowhere I want to be anyways. We're going to figure this out together, so stop moping. I don't intend to die either so just chill. Besides, you didn't even ask what happened in my memory."

"Pffft, I think you need to chill. You're coming on a little strongly Maka and I'm just not that easy, you know?" he said raising their clasped hands to eye level. He grinned and raised an eyebrow at her. She snatched her hand back and eyed him angrily as he bounced a few steps ahead.

"I can't believe I actually missed you being a sarcastic asshole. Go back to being sad, at least you'd keep your mouth shut," she said as she stomped after him. She threw him a dirty look but she knew she was relieved when the sad haze around him started to dissipate.

Soul continued to walk a few steps ahead of Maka, not wanting her to see just how happy it made him that she said she wanted to stay with him. Despite being able to identify that need to not feel alone, he couldn't quite figure out why. The concept itself nagged at him. It pulled at the edges of his thoughts. He wondered if it had something to do with his past. If something happened to him then, maybe the same thing that made him cut, that was effecting how he felt now. He couldn't be sure what was really going on but he knew he genuinely liked Maka's company. She seemed sort of stubborn and short tempered but she was a pragmatic type of girl, and her temper flare ups made him laugh.

"We should play a question game," Maka said from behind him.

"Hmm?"

"You know, we'll just take turns asking each other questions and then maybe we'll just start remembering stuff," she explained.

"How d'you figure that'll work?" He said skeptically.

"Well to be honest, I didn't even remember my own name when I woke up, I didn't know it until you asked me. Then it just popped into my head."

"That's super weird... but it can't hurt. Besides this walk is stupid, and hot, and I hate it."

"You sound like a little brat," Maka teased. "And we're like halfway there anyways."

"Alright whatever. You go first, ask away," Soul said as he fell into step with her.

"Hmmmm, what's your favourite colour?" She asked.

"Yellow," Soul said immediately. "Oh hey look at that. I like yellow."

"That was an easy enough one. Okay your turn!"

He thought a moment before asking something he was genuinely curious about, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one," she replied automatically.

"Oh, that means I'm older than you. You must respect me then, for I am your wise m, older companion."

She snorted, "Wise my foot."

"Rude," Soul said indignantly.

"Baby Soul having another baby fit."

He shoved her off the road a little, "Whatever. So what happened in your memory?"

"Tut tut! It's my turn to ask. You'll just have to wait for your turn."

"Ugh 'kay ask your next question then," he grumbled.

"Are your hair and eyes those colours naturally?" She asked.

"Why yes, yes they are," he said smiling. "Do you like it," he said winking and nudging his elbow into her ribs.

"I think you lied when you said you weren't easy," she teased back.

He shrugged before continuing, "So _now_ will you tell me what happened in your memory?"

"Why yes, yes I will," she said mimicking his earlier tone. "So I was younger, fifteen years old I think. And I was in my bedroom, and that compact mirror that you found, was on my night stand on top of a goodbye letter from my mother. She ran off because she couldn't be with my dad anymore. So she left me and didn't even say bye to my face. Just left me her favourite compact mirror and a stupid note," Maka finished, unable to mask the bitterness in her voice.

After a moment of silence Maka looked over at Soul. She saw his eyes drift to

look sideways at her.

"Your turn," he said quietly.

"Have you cut yourself since waking up here?"

He looked at her thoughtfully. "No. And I haven't wanted to either. Not that I remember why I ever did it before. Clearly I did it a lot but, it really hasn't crossed my mind at all. I kind of feel okay in general."

"Good," she said with a nod. "Your turn," she added.

"Why did you used to wear your hair in pigtails?"

"That's how my mom used to do my hair everyday before school."

"Damn Maka, your story is not a happy one," Soul said gruffly.

"It couldn't have been too shit, I mean I was engaged at one point. That's not too bad."

"I guess," Soul replied slowly. "Your turn."

"Hmmm," Maka hummed thoughtfully as she tried to think of another question. "What did you used to do for a living?" She finally said.

"I was a concert pianist and a musical score composer for a local theatre group." He stated in a matter of fact tone. His brow wrinkled in concentration and he stopped before adding, "I think it was killing me though..."

"Uhm," Maka stood there appraising him. Now that she took the time to look he did have big hands with long slender fingers. "I think I shall begin to call you lady fingers!" She said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. She was not ready for Soul to go to a dark brooding place again. Emotionally, it took a toll on her too.

"Ha. Ha." He drawled sarcastically as he started walking again.

"What did you do for a living then?" He quipped back.

"I.. I think I was still in school actually...but I worked part time at a library."

"Nerrrrrrd," he teased as he sped out of her reach.

"That does explain why I am so excited to be hitting up this massive library I guess," she said trying to get close enough to take a swing at Soul.

"Good thing we're just about there then eh?" He said smiling back, still prancing ahead, just out of reach.

Maka looked ahead and saw that they were in fact approaching the outskirts of the city, but it didn't look the way she expected it to. Along the outskirts of the city in both directions were small stone homes and ramshackle huts all in varying states of ruin. It wasn't too far in that the buildings started to look a bit better, and more inhabited. But the abandoned derelict buildings along the outsides of the city made her feel nervous. "This doesn't look good Soul," Maka said quietly.

" _Now_ who is being a baby," he joked. Maka noted that he was speaking quietly too and smirked.

"Whatever, so the hotel reception guy said it's basically the middle of the city at the base of that big creepy college building."

"That's a college?" Soul replied incredulously.

"That's what I said," Maka laughed. "But I guess so. Weird aesthetic they're going for hunh?"

Soul just nodded as he looked around. They had already walked through the more broken down places and were now passing through an area with slightly livelier looking, small stone houses and shops. There were apartments over the shops and some duplex looking buildings. But mostly it all seemed very cramped and kind of dirty. The atmosphere was unpleasant, very quiet and almost sad.

"It's so hot," Soul said, breaking the silence. He looked over at Maka and saw her cheeks were flushed very red and her steps seemed heavier. He wondered if he looked the same.

"Yeah," she sighed. "It's midday, probably why there's no one outside or anything. It's just way too hot."

Soul got a little worried looking at Maka. The trauma from earlier combined with the walk and the intense sun looked like it had taken its toll. "Want to stop somewhere for a bit? Or, if we plan on staying here tonight we can check in somewhere. Get some food, water. Maybe even air conditioning."

"Yeah. Good idea," She said slowly. She didn't want it to take more than a day to get to the library but she knew Soul was right. He was so sweaty his hair was all plastered to his head, and he'd been growing steadily redder in the cheeks. And if he looked that bad, she knew she looked worse. "But I think the buildings are getting nicer as we get closer to the middle of the city, so let's wait for a place that looks like it has A/C."

"Don't you wanna save that money and just go to a cheapo place?" Soul croaked.

"I got a lot for that ring, and somewhere climate controlled to nap off this migraine would be ideal. We can cut corners elsewhere," Maka replied.

They walked passed a few more rings of building. The city seemed to be laid out in rings, all the buildings radiating out from the large college building at the center of the city.

Soul stopped and pointed at a square four level building, "Let's go there. The Hollows Inn," he read the large hand painted sign. "It looks, nice and the sign is not even made of neon lights."

Maka nodded, unable to convince her body to walk much further. They both pushed through the door of the hotel to stand in a large, open lobby. To the left was a large wooden desk. It was stained dark mahogany coated with shiny veneer.

"Hey there, how can I help you folks?" A tall, pretty, brown haired girl appeared behind the desk.

"I got this Maka, you look like you're about to die on your feet. Go sit in one of those chairs I'll get us a room."

Maka walk over to the chairs around the side of the desk and sat down. She heard Soul walk up to the woman at the counter behind her as she sat down.

"Yeah uh, I need a room for the night," he said gruffly.

"We've got a few rooms with two single beds, and a few with one queen size bed, oh and the honeymoon suite."

"Whatever is cheapest," he mumbled.

"Sure thing," the woman responded before Maka heard her clicking away at a computer.

Maka's attention was then drawn to the small group of women that exited the elevators on the other side of the lobby. They walked up to stand a few feet away from her where they waited for their turn at reception.

"Oh my goodness," one girl said under her breath.

"I know right?" one of her friends responded.

"He is gorgeous," the first girl drawled in a sticky, girlie voice to the rest of her friends.

"Totally. I definitely wouldn't kick _him_ out of bed."

Maka blushed at the lewd comments being made about her friend. 

She looked over at Soul, trying to see what the girls saw. All Maka saw was the bored look on his face while he leaned heavily on the counter waiting for a room key. He did have broad shoulders, and although the colour of his shaggy hair was unusual, it did look soft, and somehow it suited him. His maroon eyes were a nice slanted almond shape and she could see his long pale lashes reach for his high cheek bones when he blinked.

"Just sign here and here's your room key!" The receptionist said brightly as she pushed a key card and sheet of paper across the counter top towards Soul. He signed quickly before snatching up the key and stalking over to Maka.

"C'mon," he said waving at her to get up. They walked past the girls towards the elevator. Maka looked over at the girls as she passed by. The one that called Soul gorgeous blushed when she made eye contact with Maka.

"So what kind of room did we get?" Maka asked Soul as the boarded the elevator.

"I dunno actually. I just asked for the cheapest one. It can be a surprise. We can change it if it ends up being one bed," he added quickly. "I mean, if you want. I just figured whatever is cheapest…" He trailed off.

"Whatever we got is fine. I know you're harmless," Maka smiled. "You know those girls from down in the lobby?"

"Mhm, what about them," Soul replied.

"They were definitely checking you out," Maka replied.

Soul looked surprised for a brief moment before he slapped on a grin, "Did those girls make you jealous dear Maka? Don't worry bub, you know you're my favourite girl in the whole wide world."

Maka glared at him and raised her hand as if to hit him. Soul winced and waited for the impending smack.

Maka debated hitting him, in fact she was just about to when she had a better idea. Remembering how uncomfortable Soul got when he assured, and then reassured her that he had no hidden agenda, she thought of a way to use his own stupid jokes against him. Banking on the fact that he hit on her as a defense when he was uncomfortable she sidled up to him.

Soul was surprised when Maka dropped her hand and took a step over to stand really close to him. He looked down at her face, into her big green eyes. He could almost hear his own heartbeat.

"Soul," she simpered as she placed her hand on his arm. "Do you want me to be jealous?" She tried to look pouty by sticking out her bottom lip and looking at him with wide eyes.

"I, uh, uhm," Soul stuttered. Maka let a few seconds drip by before she could no longer contain her mirth. She burst out laughing as the elevator dinged and the door opened.

Soul glared over at Maka when he realized she had used his own tricks against him. "The hell Maka, you can't do that."

"Why not? You try to make me uncomfortable every chance you get," she replied as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Whatever," he grumbled as the blush started to creep back out of his face.

They turned left down a hall and walked passed a few doors before Soul came to an abrupt stop. "This is us, room four oh six." He slid the key through the lock and swung the door open.

They were immediately greeted with a wave of cold air.

"Oh my God yeeeesssss." Maka gushed as she ran into the room and threw herself on the bed. "The A/C is so amazing. Also, it's pretty rad that we got a king size bed. It's as big as my whole childhood bedroom."

"They better have given us a king. This room cost almost twice the last one."

"Well, the other place was small and cozy. This place is neat and fancy. And also frigid," Maka sighed happily as she buried her face into the pillows.

Soul reached into the mini fridge and grabbed two bottles of water. He tossed one at Maka as he sat down in the winged back chair in the corner of the room.

"By the way," he said after taking a long drink of water. "I chose the option for late checkout on the form. So for the love of God, _do not_ wake me up before noon tomorrow."

"Baby," Maka mumbled as she kicked off her shoes and tossed her backpack onto the floor next to the bed.

Soul rolled his eyes as he moved to sit at the end of the bed. "You're about to pass out for an after noon nap and I'm the baby?" He said as he watched Maka's eyes droop shut.

"Mhmm," she mumbled sleepily.

"Alright you take a nap, I'm gonna watch cartoons," he said as he got more comfortable and turned on the TV. Within minutes Soul could hear the soft, steady breathing of sleep. He flicked through the TV channels aimlessly for a moment before settling on a cartoon he recognized from when he was a kid.

"Nice," he said quietly as he kicked off his shoes and settled more deeply into the bed next to Maka. He didn't take in much of the show before he himself dozed off in the dimly lit room, with the chatter from the TV keeping his mind from wandering.


	6. Chapter 6

Maka woke up later to a dark room. Only the TV, that was still quietly playing cartoons, provided any light. She rolled over and found herself practically nose to nose with a sleeping Soul. She sighed before she rolled peered over him to check the time.

"Oh my God," she said a little too loudly.

Soul jolted up in the bed as he groggily slurred back, "Whatsamatter?"

"I went down for a nap 4 hours ago. It's almost 7 o'clock in the evening!"

"So?" Said Soul as he started to get comfy again.

"The library is probably not open anymore slash its dark already and we don't necessarily know where we're going. So we might as well not bother at all today."

"So?" He replied again.

Maka growled and jumped to sit on Soul's back with her elbow digging into his spine. "Say 'so' one more time and I swear..."

"Ouch. God damnit Maka. We've got nowhere to be and nothing but time. Besides I don't necessarily even wanna remember anything. I feel like most of it is _not_ good."

Maka was about to argue when she was interrupted by the loud growl of her stomach. "Ughhhhh," she sighed. "Let's find a diner or something." She climbed off his back. He gave her a grumpy look as he rubbed the sore spot on his back, before sitting up excitedly.

"Alright! I love food. Let's get food!" Soul said bouncing up and down on the bed.

A few minutes later they had freshened themselves up from the nap and headed out of the hotel.

"Fine. FINE. You can pick where we eat.

"Awesome." Soul said as he finally stopped poking her in the arm. "You're so kind, Maka."

"Well you kept whining like a baby and poking at me to let you choose. So the kindness I'm doing you here is _not_ hitting you."

"That's a first." He said laughing.

"Keep being a smart ass and it'll be the last," she said giving him a scary smile.

"Alright so let's go here!" He said pulling her into a hole in the wall restaurant. They entered through a heavy wooden door with a skull and a scroll with the words 'Gallow's Pub' painted on in peeling paint.

"Ughhh, but it looks gross." Maka said quietly as they entered the dimly lit pub. All the furnishings were in the same dark wood as the door, including the long bar at the other end of the room. All the tables had one candle glowing in the middle and varieties of stained coasters randomly placed on only some of the tables.

There were a few men sitting solo around the bar but other than that there were no other customers in the bar. "Just grab a seat wherever you'd like. I'll be over in a moment!" A man called from behind the bar.

"C'mon then," Soul said. He grabbed Maka's hand and tugged her to a table when she didn't immediately move to follow him.

"I regret letting you pick," she grumbled as she sat at the table in a far back corner that Soul had chosen.

He rolled his eyes, "You seriously do not get to call me a baby after acting like this. Besides. These places are like local hubs usually, so I bet the food will be great. Just trust me."

"Fiiiine, and I guess I haven't had a cold beer in at least forty years...so that could be fun."

"Ah. A lady who enjoys beer. This bodes well for our friendship," he smiled. Just then the bartender showed up at their table with a couple menus.

"Good evening folks. Here's the evening menu and on the far back panel you'll see what we have on tap as well as other drinks. Anything I can start you with right now?"

Maka quickly scanned the drink menu before responding, "Well I actually don't recognize any of these beers, do you have any suggestions?" She looked up at the bartender turned waiter expectantly. He was very tall and broad shouldered with short brown hair. He was sort of handsome but not particularly remarkable, other than his height.

"Hmm, well the Dunes Lager is pretty good. And it's local."

"Great I'll take one of those please." Maka said.

The bartender looked at Soul, "And for you?"

"I'll just have the same, thanks." He said nodding.

Maka picked up her menu to see the food choices as the bartender walked back towards the bar. "Okay mister local foodie nonsense. Tell me which sandwich I should get." She said opting for some of the less heavy pub fare listed in the menu.

"Hmmmmm. Well that chicken parm one sounds good. And they use some fancy cheese on it." He said as he reached over to point at the option on her menu.

"Cool. I gotta run to the bathroom. If he comes back will you order for me?"

"Yeah sure." He responded not looking up from his menu.

Maka walked across the bar to the doorway with a wooden sign that read 'The Johns', over it. As she was closing in on the doorway she noticed a large man in a tattered flannel shirt and long coat eye her creepily over the rim of his beer bottle. She could still feel his eyes burning into the back of her head as she passed him to enter the bathroom.

Even in the dimly lit women's bathroom Maka couldn't shake the feeling of the large man's eyes boring into her. She shuddered and tried to shake it off, hoping he wouldn't be watching for when she finished in the bathroom. To her relief the man was absent from his seat as she exited the bathroom. She sat back down with Soul to find her drink was already waiting for her at the table.

"You okay Maka? You look….weird," Soul said as he watched her wrap her hands around the cold dewy pint.

"Yeah. There was just this weird guy. He stared me down pretty hard when I passed him on the way to the bathroom. It gave me the heebie jeebies for some reason." Maka could sense it was a train of thought her mind was hesitant to explore.

"Was it a hulking dude with greasy dark hair and a reeeaaalllyyy ugly trench coat?"

"That's the one."

"Yeah, I think he left for a smoke or something. Maybe he won't come back," Soul said encouragingly. "Anyways," he continued holding up his beer. Maka held up her own beer.

"To…starting over," Soul said.

"To starting over, and to new friends," Maka finished.

Soul smiled, "Cheers!"

They clinked their glasses.

"Mm-mmm," Maka said licking her lips. Soul had put his glass down a few moments before and was now staring at her, and her half empty glass with an open mouth.

"Shit Maka, thirsty much?"

"For starters, yes. But also don't act like you're not impressed."

"Impressed but also embarrassed because it looks like I'm going to have a hard time keeping up."

Maka laughed, "Well, don't give up yet young grasshopper."

"I thought we established that _I_ was the older, not to mention wiser, one."

She narrowed her eyes, "Older yes. Wiser…yet to be seen."

"Hey now. I'm not the worst. I was right about this place. This beer is just what I needed. And you certainly seem to like it too," he nodded at what was left of her beer.

"Hold up. That theory won't be confirmed until the food shows up. Oh wise one." She smirked at him over the rim of her beer before she took another chug.

"Hmph." Soul grunted as he tried to catch up on his drink.

The bartender chose this moment to appear at their table again, "Few more minutes for the food folks. But can I pour you kids another pint?"

Soul looked to Maka for an answer, it was unspoken but clear that Maka was in charge of the evening. He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Sure, why not. Thanks," Maka smiled up at the bartender.

"Two more of the same then?"

They both nodded in response and he walked back to the bar.

"Okay, so…" Soul started. "Ever broken a bone?"

Maka felt the ache of an old injury in her wrist as the answer to Soul's question came to her. "Yeah. Someone broke my wrist…maybe by accident?" She shook off the thought it may not have been. "How about you Soul?"

He shook his head, "Nope."

"Hmm, well you look pretty breakable to me."

"Well coming from the most violent girl I've met, its not that much of a surprise that you'd think so," he responded haughtily. "Anyways, your turn."

She glared at him and resisted the urge to prove them both right by breaking his nose. "Umm. What's your favourite food?" She finally asked.

"Woman. I like food too much to pick just one," he said passionately.

Maka rolled her eyes, "How about, one thing that you love to eat, maybe its associated with a good memory or event or something?"

Soul's eyes glazed over, and after a few seconds he had even started drooling.

"Ahem," Maka cleared her throat to bring him back from his daydreaming.

"Uh okay. Well, my grandmother, she would make me the same special meal for my birthday every year…until she died. So every morning on my birthday she'd take me to the local market first. We'd buy a jar of fresh honey, and a pint of fresh milk, and then whatever the freshest vegetables were. Then she'd take me home and we'd cook these beautiful grilled veggies and some honey glazed pork chops together. And she'd give me a glass of that fresh milk to wash down the special birthday cookies she'd only make twice a year."

Maka suspected that Soul was a little watery in the eyes as he throwback the last of his first pint. "So I guess you were quite close to your grandmother then?"

"Yeah we were both big foodies. And I used to do everything with her when I wasn't at school…or piano lessons...or piano practice."

The bartender set down two new beers and cleared the now empty glasses away.

"I guess that's why my job was hard for me, the music reminded me of time I gave up. Gran was sick for a little while. I used to visit her when I could but I hadn't gone to visit her at the hospital the day she died because my parents didn't want me to miss a practice."

On top of sensing how sad Soul was, she felt sad for him too. The bartender came over with their plates of food just then. "Alright," he said as he set their food down. "So my name is Tom, if you need anything else just holler. Njoy the food folks."

Maka waited a moment as Tom walked away before asking quietly, "So why twice year?"

"Hmm?" Soul hummed as he picked up his fork.

"The cookies, you said you got special cookies twice a year."

"Oh!" He exclaimed around a mouthful of food. He gulped it down before continuing, "Once for my birthday, and once for my older brother's."

"Oh…you had a brother?"

"Guess so. His name was Wes and besides Gran he's probably the only person I'll miss."

Maka nodded and started in on her own meal. She wasn't sure how to approach Soul, especially if he was still feeling sad.

"What's your favourite food?" He asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Hmm. Probably pie. Oh and anything barbequed."

Soul nodded before following up her answer with another question, "So do you have any siblings?"

"Uh. No. Nope, it was mostly just me and my slut of a father," she couldn't cut the bitter edge from her tone.

Soul choked on his mouthful of beer.

"Did you just call your potentially dead and gone father, a _slut_?"

"Yeah. He didn't just cheat on my mom. He cheated on her countless times, despite being caught _countless_ times. AND he didn't stop after she left us. I was constantly being woken up by the drunken giggles and crashing around of him and his bimbos in the middle of the night. Not to mention, I'd often have to step around their passed out asses as I got ready for school the next morning."

"Rough," Soul said somberly. "What a skeezeball." He picked up his beer and raised it, indicating to Maka to do the same. "To ditching lame, deadweight family!"

"Cheers to that," Maka said before she downed the rest of her second beer. "Mind you," started Maka as she put down her beer. "Once we find out what the hell has happened, we should probably try to find out if anyone we know is still alive, and maybe also make contact."

Soul shrugged, "I guess it would be cool to see Wes again."

Maka started mowing down on her meal again when she realized Soul was watching her with a smirk. "What?" She said around a mouthful of fries.

"Am I right or am I right?"

"What are you talking about?" She replied.

"Good beer, good food, good choice of restaurant?" 

Maka noted that Soul sounded pretty hopeful. She decided he deserved at least one win. "You were right Soul. This place is perfect. Really chill, good service and god food. You win this one."

He threw his fist up in the air, "Alright! I am the wisest time traveller!"

Maka rolled her eyes, "Time travellers. Huh."

"Well, its the best word I could think of," said Soul.

"You're not wrong. We weren't voluntary travellers, but travel through time we did."

Soul polished off his beer and looked at Maka, "One more for the road?"

"Alright, but that's it, I'm feeling a little fuzzy."

"Yoh Tom!" Soul's deep voice rang through the near empty bar. "One more round and then the bills please!"

"Sure thing!" The bartender called back as he scooped some empty glasses from the counter behind him.

"Alright, I was trying really hard not to break the seal, but man oh man I got to go," Maka said as she stood up. It wasn't until she started walking that she realized just how fuzzy her head was.

It wasn't until she started walking to the bathroom that she realized just how fuzzy her head was. She bee-lined for the bathroom to relieve her insistent bladder. When she walked back out of the bathroom she was startled to see the same creepy man perched on the nearest bar stool. He looked her up and down fully before turning away from her. She rushed through the bar to get back to Soul, feeling every little hair on her neck standing at attention.

She shuddered as she sat back down at their table, "Creepy man is back."

"Yeah, I saw him walk back in so I kept an eye out for you. He looked you over pretty hard eh? You gonna be okay, or should we leave now?"

'I'm fine. Besides those beers we just ordered are already on their way over," she said nodding her head towards the bar where Tom was just heading their way.

They bumped glasses again, this time silently, and they both had a sip.

"So, the question game got less fun," Soul said, finally breaking the silence.

"Infinitely less fun. I miss books. I'm glad we're going to a library," Maka added wistfully.

"You know. I think I actually think I miss my Ipod," he sounded a little surprised, and a little sad.

"Oh yeah?"

"It was small but mighty," he was picturing it now. "It was a silver nano but it had a shit ton of memory. It fit my classical and piano pieces on there, which was great, but man do I miss my metal and alt stuff so bad. If I remember anything I hope it's all the bands I used to love."

Maka could tell how passionate he was about his music by the feeling in his voice and faraway stare.

"Well you know," she leaned in close towards him like she had a juicy secret.

He leaned towards her, eyes bright and curious, "What?" He breathed back.

"You can listen to any music you want at a library. If they don't have a physical copy, they have public access computers," she winked.

"Amazing," he said quietly. "I can see why you like them so much."

Maka laughed, "I know right? Make sure show me what you listen to when you figure it out tomorrow."

"For sure," he grinned.

Maka realized his pointy-toothed smile was no longer unnerving. She grinned back as Tom the bartender came back with the bill. "Cash or credit at the table, debit is a no go, but there's an ATM over there."

"Cash is fine," Maka said fishing into her pockets. Soul peeked at the bill and cringed. Maka picked it up, unfazed considering how much beer they drank.

"Steep date this guy eh?" Tom said as she counted out the crumpled bills.

" _And_ I don't put out on the first date by the way," Soul teased.

"Devastating," Maka said sarcastically.

Tom chuckled and took the cash, "Thanks guys, have a good night. And heck sweetheart, he looks easy, maybe he'll put out after all." Tom laughed as he walked away.

"Jeeze, I regret tipping him so well now."

Soul laughed, "Well I am pretty drunk, Tom might be right. Try not to take advantage of me." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Ew," Maka replied as she stood up to leave.

Soul laughed again, "Alright alright. I gotta hit the bathroom, then we can take off."

Maka nodded and went to go wait outside the pub. She stepped out the door and breathed in the cooler night air, hoping it would help clear her mind a little. She was interrupted almost immediately when she was grabbed roughly by the arm and thrown against the side of the pub. Instantly a big rough hand covered her mouth. Her eyes took an extra moment to focus due to the impact of her head hitting the wall. When her vision finally did clear, she realized she was face to face with the creep from the bar.

"So time travellers. Dr. M has a hefty bounty out for folks like you and your buddy from in the bar."

'Shit' she thought. She didn't think they were loud enough to be heard or that anyone was even close enough to hear them. She tried to kick the man in the shins, or anywhere she could reach. She landed one square boot on his shin hoping it would be enough of a distraction for her to break away. However, it had the exact opposite effect. He grunted and pressed his other hand against her throat and leaned heavily against her.

"Try it again and it'll be the last thing you do," he growled.

The lack of oxygen combined with the beer made her head swim and the panic set in. The corners of her vision started to dim just as a flash of white cut through the blur. All of a sudden the pressure against her body disappeared. She dropped to her knees gasping and looked over to see Soul struggling to keep the large stranger pinned down in the alley next to the bar.

"Soul," she said quietly.

"Get Tom," he grunted. "I need help."

She struggled to her feet and ran headfirst into the pub. "Tom help…my friend. That big buy…attacked." And as if he'd done it a hundred times before, he reached below the counter to grab a large wooden bat, that looked more like a club. before he ran passed her.

"In the alley," she gasped as she rushed to follow him.

They came upon Soul in the alley just as the creep landed an elbow right in his face. Soul fell backwards off the man as Tom stepped forward swinging his bat. The creep saw he was out numbered and before anyone else could come at him, he raced out of the alley. He ran fast and was quickly hidden amongst the buildings.

"You kids okay?" Tom said helping Soul off the ground.

"I don't know," he started gingerly touching the area around his eye. "I came out and he had her pinned against the wall, so I just charged at him."

Maka looked him up and down. She felt really guilty that he was injured, but mostly she was grateful that he was even there.

"Want me to call the cops?" Tom asked, his bat hanging at his side.

"There's no point," Maka said. "He's long gone and we're staying in the other direction anyways."

"Well alright. You guys head home, I'll keep watch for a few. Make sure he doesn't follow you."

"Thanks," said Soul quietly. "Let's go." He put his arm around her shoulders and guided her steps towards the hotel. She appreciated it after still feeling so shaken up.

Once they were halfway to the hotel from the pub Soul broke the silence. "Bet you're happy you tipped Tom so well now hunh?" He gave her a small tentative smile.

She nodded and granted him a small chuckle.

In the light of their cool, air conditioned hotel room Soul took a moment to examine her for injuries.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"He-he choked me pretty hard, and I hit my head too," she said quietly.

Soul found himself feeling surprisingly shaken up. It hurt to see this strong, loud woman bruised and quiet. He found himself close to her, trying to examine where she was hurt. He saw the beginnings of some bruising on her neck. Trying to be as gentle as possible he brushed his fingers against the darkening patches around her neck, "Those are gonna be some shitty bruises but they won't be there for too long." She nodded but unfortunately she didn't look up at him. He sighed before reaching forward to check the back of her head. He ran his hand down from the crown of her head slowly and stopped when she flinched.

"Small bump." He carefully felt around the small raised area and checked his hand. "No blood. But it'll probably be tender for a bit."

She nodded silently again.

He ducked down to look into her face, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah…I will be. Will you?" She said quietly as she reached up to touch the bruise forming under his right eye.

"Of course."

"Alright then, can we please just go to bed?" She was still speaking quietly but Soul was relieved to see she was no longer staring at the ground.

She went into the bathroom and quietly closed the door behind her. After washing her hands she doused her face in cold water. When she dried her hands and face she finally looked at her reflection. She saw purple and yellow bruises blooming on either side of her neck and then she realized her arm had similar finger shaped bruises forming where the stranger had first grabbed her arm. Suddenly she was struck by the same overwhelming sensations as when she had that first flashback back in the desert. She was able to strangle back the scream this time and instead just gasped before she fell heavily to the floor.

Soul had just finished changing into his pyjama shorts when he heard a thud from the bathroom.

"Maka?" he called tentatively. When there was no answer he felt panic rise hot in his throat. He ran to the bathroom and knocked on the door, "Maka?"

He heard nothing in response but felt an overwhelming sense of fear roiling just behind the door. He carefully pushed the door to find Maka in the fetal position on the floor. He checked that she was still breathing. "I'm going to pick you up and move you from the floor okay?" He didn't expect her to answer but felt it was better to try to warn her.

He bent down and scooped her tense body off the floor. Being careful to not knock her head, he carried her to the bed and gently put her down. He pulled the covers over her before grabbing each of them a glass of water and sitting next to her. He leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes. While the alley incident combined with Maka collapsing suddenly, did a lot to sober him up, he could still feel the effects of the beer pulsing through his brain. He downed his glass of water, then Maka's.

"Phew," he sighed, rubbing his extremely full belly. Maka stirred next to him, she was no longer a tight little ball and was a little more relaxed and stretched out. Her eyes were still closed so he didn't say anything to her. Soul figured he should refill a glass of water for Maka before settling in. He brushed his teeth, turned off all the lights, and finally climbed in to bed next to Maka. Cleaning up made him feel substantially better.

"Soul?" Maka said quietly from next to him.

"Mmm?" He hummed and turned to look at her.

Her big green eyes reflected the light of the alarm clock behind him.

"Are you okay?" she continued.

"Yeah, why?" He responded surprised. If anyone should _not_ be okay it should

be her.

"That guy you pulled off of me was huge. I'm surprised you aren't more hurt."

"Oh. That guy?" He scoffed. "I can take three of him, no big deal."

She chuckled, "Tell that to your black eye." She reached over and gingerly pressed under his right eye.

He flinched, not even realizing he had been hit. "I'm sure it'll help me impress the ladies," he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"You're such a dork," she said smiling.

"Pfft. Whatever," he replied. They fell silent for a few minutes.

"Maka?" Soul said tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Well…for the most part I think. I am a bit sore though."

Soul felt a twinge of guilt, "I'm sorry. I never should have left you alone. We knew that guy was somewhere being creepy. I just thought he was gone, I totally forgot he might be around." He was shaking, perhaps a delayed reaction to the adrenaline from the fight and finding Maka in the bathroom.

"Shh, don't be ridiculous," she kicked him lightly on the shins under the covers. "It was no one's fault."

He nodded against the pillow unable to meet her glowing green gaze.

"Soul, seriously," she reached over and nudged him under his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Not. Your. Fault. If anything you saved my life, so thank you."

Maka smiled at him so he did his best to smile back before he asked, "So what happened in the alley?"

"I didn't see him but he just snuck behind me grabbed me, and dragged me to the alley. He said some weird stuff, I didn't know what he was talking about, he got mad, I kicked him, he got more mad, and then started choking me. Then you showed up," she spilled.

Soul was irritated with her ability to sound so removed and unaffected by the whole thing. "You _kicked_ the giant dude trying to kill you in an alley…?"

"It's not like I had anything to lose at that point," she said mirroring his annoyed tone.

He reminded himself that Maka was not that one he was mad at. "And…just now, in the bathroom?"

She breathed a deep sigh before responding, "Seeing the bruises form that guy triggered a bad memory...well memories…"

He waited, sensing she needed time to answer.

She sighed again, "I didn't leave my fiancée for cheating. I left him because he used to abuse me. He was perfect, minus a few red flags, until we announced our engagement. He actually hurt me so badly once that my wrist was broken. The letter he wrote me was total bullshit. The night of his bachelor party he came back high and drunk, he beat me up really badly and then passed out. When I was able to get back up I packed up my shit and left town. I went to the last place anyone would ever think to look for me. My father's."

Soul could feel his blood boil at the idea of some guy, lucky enough to have her in his life, using her as a punching bag.

"He was always doing that for the last few months. Hurting me, then apologizing for some nonsense, begging, belittling, just really fucked up stuff. Whatever he has to say to keep me from leaving. That night was the last though. He forwarded the letter to me through a co-worker's email. I don't think I was going to go back to him though."

Soul didn't realize he could hate someone he'd never met so much. He sat there, expressionless and silent, not wanting to do or say anything wrong after such a heavy revelation.

Maka looked at Soul and appreciated his concern. Considering her newly discovered past it was clear to her now why she liked Soul's gentle and relaxed demeanour. Although remembering him jumping to her defence in the alley made her realize that despite his gentle way of dealing with her, he was capable of being strong when necessary. Quite suddenly Maka yawned widely. When she opened her eyes she saw that Soul was now glaring at her, brow furrowed and mouth set in a frown.

She laughed at the sudden change, "What are you thinking about now that's got you all scowly?"

"Lots of things," he growled.

"Like what?"

"Well I don't really wanna upset you again…"

"Go on. I can take it," she said.

"Well for starters, I can't stop thinking about how I'd like to destroy your scumbag ex," he said tightening his jaw.

"Well I wouldn't stop you," she replied smirking. "But he'd be a harmless old man by now…probably anyways." She chuckled at the idea of him crotchety and bent with age.

"The other thing that gets me is how the hell are you so calm and collected now? You were practically catatonic until a few minutes ago. Now it's like nothing even happened."

"I think that's your fault actually," she replied.

"How do you figure?" He said, baring his pointy teeth at her.

"Well, you've kind of been saving me this whole time, you know?"

His whole facial expression changed and he looked rather surprised when he heard her answer.

"I feel safe with you," she continued as his face relaxed even more. "Not only have you been looking out for me since I found you, but you literally saved my life Soul. I don't even know how to begin thanking you," she finished with a smile. To her surprise he looked like he was about to cry.

"Soul?"

He shook his head, "I think in the end you'll be the one to save me…" the statement hung heavily in the air. He felt the weight of what he had yet to learn about himself pressing into his mind. He met Maka's quizzical stare.

He cracked a smile and ruffled her already tousled hair, "Nerd. Stop getting us into trouble."

"Weeeelllllll, not to point fingers but I think you'll find that in your infinite wisdom you may have picked the wrong place for supper," her eyes gleamed mischievously.

He pulled the pillow from under her head and gently bopped her in the face. "As if I don't feel guilty enough, you jerk."

After a few seconds she pulled the pillow off her face and put it back under her head, "As much as I'd like to destroy you in a pillow fight, I did recently hit my head off of a brick wall…so…rain check?"

"Oh shit. Sorry." Now he'd done it, after trying to be so careful.

"Don't worry," she said, still smiling. "Just prepare for an ass kicking in the near future."

He smiled back before rolling over to get comfortable. "Goodnight Maka."

He felt her shift behind him. She wedged herself against his back, he could feel her knees against the back of his legs. "Night Soul," she said quietly, he felt her breath against his neck. "And thank you. You really did save me today," she squeezed his arm and then settled into her pillow.

He started dropping off into a comfortable haze. He enjoyed the contrast of another warm body next to him in the chilly air-conditioned room. All things considered, he felt pretty content as he fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Soul jolted upright when he realized he had been nodding off at the computer. They had been at the library for almost two hours and he was already bored. Maka wouldn't let him take any naps until the bulk of their research was done. Instead he was at a computer looking up maps of the area for them to save and print.

Maka walked over with her arms full. She had a laptop, a clear plastic bag with several memory sticks, a small pile of books, and assorted stationary. "Okay Soul, I'm going to need you to reach into my pocket, there is a key and a print card. Follow me to unlock the study room for me. Then you can use the print card to print us some maps."

"Uh. Which pocket?" he said standing up.

"Front right…other right."

"This would be easier if your pants weren't so damn tight," he replied wiggling his fingers into her pockets to fish out the key and card.

She temporarily looked a little hurt before she abruptly turned on her heels to lead him to their study room. "Want me to help you carry anything?" He asked rushing to fall into step behind her.

"Nope. Just get the door," she replied as they came upon a door with a plaque numbered 112. He looked through the small window in the door as he jiggled the lock open.

"After you," he said as he pulled the door open for her.

"Thanks, no shoo. Go print," she said sounding pretty annoyed with him.

"Yeah, yeah," he was about to leave when a thought crossed his mind. "You know, I didn't mean anything by the pants comment right?" He said aloud, unsure if that's what had annoyed her so much.

"Yeah…it's just I thought these jeans looked good. That is…until you said something anyways. And with wearing a sweater zipped to my chin to hide all the bruises, I just feel extra un-pretty." It was hard for her to make such an admission, she didn't like appearing weak or self-conscious.

She narrowed her eyes as Soul pointedly looked her up and down. He stopped when his eyes met hers. "They do look good," he said with a straight face before abruptly turning away to go print.

Maka hoped he turned away fast enough to miss the blush as it crept into her cheeks. He allowed himself a small smile as he walked away, having in fact seen her face start to redden. Soul liked that he had that effect on her, however he was not pleased that she was made to feel self-conscious in the first place.

In the short time it took him to print the maps she had requested, Maka had spread out all the things she had gathered on the table in their sparsely decorated study room.

"How did you move in so fast?" He said staring at Maka's spread of reading material.

"Me, plus a library, equals happy. This is my house Soul," she said spreading her arms.

Soul bit down the urge to laugh, "Nerd."

"I embrace my nerdiness. Now sit down and embrace yours. I've got a surprise for you when we're done with our research," she said pointing at a chair as she shoved a spiral notebook and a stack of textbooks at him.

"Those are history books, updated four years ago. Start from 2014, two years before we…left."

"You want me to take notes professor?" He said raising his eyebrows at her as he picked up the first book.

"Yes please. And anymore disruptions to the class and you get detention."

Part of him wanted to keep teasing her but she had already ducked behind the laptop and was typing away furiously. He figured interrupting for one last punch line was not worth a textbook shaped dent in his skull.

After what felt like the entire morning Maka interrupted Soul's nap. "Wake up useless," she said as she kicked his chair.

"Oi."

"Ughh. I'm not useless…bully."

"Okay, so you first, what did you find out?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Well…This Doctor Stein fellow we saw on TV, he used to be Head of the Department of Scientific Exploration and Discovery for the last democratically elected government of the North Americas. He committed some ridiculous experiment that nearly caused world war three. It was some chemical-biological test thing that got him into trouble. But basically when he was demonstrating some of his recent finding at a summit meeting, between the governments of the United States, Canada, and Greenland, something went wrong. They were meeting to discuss environmental issues and also planning to form the coalition government that would unite North America against…well, everyone else. Whatever Doctor Stein was doing accidentally detonated, and all those potential leaders disappeared. Then some young intern in the Department of National Security rose through the ranks and immediately took over. She was working pretty closely associated with the head of the department so she was there at the summit meeting, and yet somehow she wasn't hit by whatever happened. She took the lead, got the situation under control, and for some reason, somehow she ended up being the only governing body for all of North America. The doctor disappeared, and yeah. Here we are the United Republic for a Utopian North America."

Maka stared back at him, her eyes wide, and her lips in a tight line.

"What?" Soul asked.

"I'm surprised that one, you put that together so coherently even though you mostly napped, and two, how are you not more freaked out?"

"I don't know…it doesn't really seem like the world is that different?"

"She's a dictator…you know that right?"

"I do now…"

"The creepy alley man, he said she has a bounty out for people like us," Maka said quietly.

"Oh," said Soul lamely.

"Yeah. Anyways. This Doctor Stein guy has a different story but it's really hard to find any information on his life since the disaster. He only really turns up in old newspapers. He started off as being this amazing environmental scientist. And then the disaster, the one for which he has taken all the blame. After that he's just painted out to be a quack. He's reported to still be in hiding. I don't know how he still looks so young in that video clip we saw on the news the other day but, apparently he's still alive and hiding somewhere. After skimming the audio from all his leaked videos I know that essentially he wants time travellers, like ourselves, to find a way to prove that we are from fifty years back, and also that we somehow are connected to someone else that we landed in this time with.

Then we find a city center, like this one, so we can find the nearest of his safe houses. In his published papers he left some clues on how to find these places."

"How the actual hell are we going to do that!?" Soul said, clearly upset.

"Lucky for you, you're allied with a nerd," she smiled at him.

"You've already figured it out haven't you?"

"I just may have."

"Well spill it then," he said sounding increasingly agitated.

"Not here you weenie. When we get back to the hotel," she said, starting to stack books into neat piles.

"Well hold up, what's my surprise then?"

"Oh right! Oka, why don't you take these books back to the desk, then I'll be all set up."

He stood up and stretched before picking up the assorted library materials. Maka remained seated in front of the laptop clicking away. He left the room and headed to the front desk. He pushed the pile across the desk to a very perky blonde librarian as she very deliberately up and down. He felt the heat rise to his cheeks as she finally addressed him directly, "Interesting reading choices. Are you here with the pretty blonde girl with the big, green eyes then?"

"Yes…why?" he asked slowly. He felt immediately on edge from the librarian's questions and attentiveness.

"Just checking. She was the one that asked for my help to find all this stuff."

"Oh right, yeah," he said gruffly. He was about to walk away when the librarian grabbed his hand.

"You may find this helpful. By the way, my name is Marie," she said all of it very quickly and quietly as he felt her press a small card into his palm.

Soul was temporarily stunned before he managed to clear his throat and respond, "Uhm. Thank you."

She immediately dropped his hand, gave him a small smile, and went to minding the piles of books and things on her desk. Soul rushed back to the study room to tell Maka what had happened. He found her still seated in front of the laptop but now she had a pair of earbuds on the table next to her.

"Maka, did you say much to the librarian about what we're here for?"

"Well I didn't tell her what we needed anything for, but I did need her helping in finding a lot of this stuff. That and the thumb drives with archived newspapers are kept behind the desk."

Soul nodded thoughtfully, "She gave me this. And it was kind of weird." He dropped the little business card onto the table. They both looked at it for a moment.

"Oh. This is great. I only had some hunches before but this, if this means what I think it does then I know where we should go next."

"Ohhh…kaayy," Soul said slowly. He kept looking at the card wondering how the hell she knew what to do based on the little business card. It was a business card for The Gallow's Pub, the place they had dinner at the night before. The front featured a scroll with the bar's name and a little cartoon of a hanged man holding a full mug of beer. In the corner was a little information that he read aloud, "Tom Lurney, Owner, Manager." He didn't bother reading the phone number or address aloud to Maka.

"Shh. We'll talk later. And maybe visit the librarian on the way out. So now, your surprise! Ta da!" She gestured at the computer and ear buds.

He cocked an eyebrow at her as he stuffed the business card into his pocket.

"This," she gestured at the at the computer screen, "Is an online music database. You can search and listen to any song ever that been recorded."

"Any song?"

"Yup, so show me what you got Evans."

He sat at the chair next to her and pulled the laptop towards himself. He searched his mind hard, trying to pull a name or lyric out of the dark well of his hidden memories. He heard some tunes and melodies, and after a moment of Maka impatiently tapping her foot a name came to his mind. He typed it into the search bar."

After a moment the screen lit up with dozens of songs organized by album. He clicked the first one that really jumped at him.

"Here we go," he said excitedly putting an earbud in and handing one to Maka. They had to lean towards each other to keep the earbuds from yanking out of their ears. A deep, dark guitar riff buzzed through the earbud and Soul found that he felt almost euphoric. The loud fast-paced vocals started and Soul found himself mouthing along, not missing a single word.

Maka looked at her friend in wonder as she watched him close his eyes and mouth every single word to the song. She smiled as he started to nod his head along to the beat and play an imaginary set of drums. When the song was over he came out of his trance. He looked over at her and when he saw she was watching he blushed.

"What?" He said.

"You're a little rock star huh?" She kept grinning as frowned at her.

"I didn't think you were watching me…weirdo," he looked away from her feeling warm in the face.

She nudged him a little, "Hey bub, it's cool. I liked the song, and I am really glad you're enjoying yourself."

He turned back to her. "Fine fine. I appreciate you bothered to do this, so thanks," he mumbled.

She nodded, "So more music or what?"

He flashed her a grin before returning to the computer, "Oh I know. You'll like this one even better." He picked one that was equally angsty as the first, but much less aggressive. The track also had a female guest vocalist that complimented the lead singers deeper, darker vibes.

He looked over at Maka as the track started up and she smiled at him. He turned back to the computer and his mind relaxed as he enjoyed the music, but once the chorus hit something exploded in his mind.

He found himself looking on what he found to be a familiar scene. It was what he recognized to be his old bedroom, the song from the library study room still playing around him but coming from a little stereo on his bedside table. His eyes landed, and settled on the grim vision in front of him. He saw his himself, from the past, curled on his side on the bed. He didn't have much time to take in the posters on the walls because he was drawn to watching what his old self was doing.

He watched as past Soul sat up and opened a drawer in the bedside table. He pulled out a letter and a small black pocketknife. He carefully placed the letter on the table and heaved a heavy sigh.

Future Soul watched with increasing horror as past Soul opened the knife and dragged it heavily across first one wrist, then the other. Past Soul grimaced then sighed a deep relieved sigh, a sigh as deep as his cuts. Upon closer inspection Soul recalled that these were the deepest cuts he'd ever made. He realized he was watching his own deliberate suicide. Realization made way for recollection and Soul remembered his final moments as he watched them play out for the second time. Unsure of what to do in the meantime Soul just watched himself sink into the bed, both Souls watched as the blood surged forward and soaked into the mattress. Tears drenched the pillow and Soul just waited as the clock on the wall ticked on loudly and the mattress grew increasingly redder, while Soul got paler and limper. As his old self's breathing slowed, he grew morbidly curious and approached the bed. It was as strange as it was entrancing to watch himself slowly, yet peacefully die. As the final breaths were shuddering out of him Soul stared, he was so enthralled by being very much alive, while watching his own final breaths. When the clock stopped ticking and the music stopped suddenly he almost didn't notice. After a few seconds of deafening silence Soul noticed that everything had stopped, he didn't have time for much else because there was a sudden pop as the air in the room expanded violently. Soul instinctively covered his face as the glass shattered out of his window and any loose objects on the dresser and bedside table were thrown across the room. When he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was that past Soul was gone. He looked around the room and the more he saw the more it looked like a scene from a horror film. From the shattered glass, to the things strewn across the room, and finally to the blood drenched, empty bed, it was all terrifying.

The sound of footsteps quietly approaching pulled Soul from the gruesome sights before him.

"Soul?" his brother called softly through the door. He knew this had all long since passed but it felt quite nice to hear Wes' voice again. With the jiggling of the doorknob Soul was reminded of what his brother would see if he walked into his old room right now.

"Oh no."

"Soul, I know you tell me over and over not to barge into your room but I heard some loud noises up here and I wanna make sure you're okay."

"Soul?" More doorknob jiggling.

Soul could feel his dread increasing with every passing second.

"That's it, I'm coming in," Wes said, concern coloring his voice.

"Fuck," Soul whispered, as Wes picked the lock and shouldered the door open. He waited and watched as Wes' eyes moved across the room to settle on the blood drenched bed.

Wes' mouth gaped open in horror but no sounds came out as he ran over to the bed. He clutched the soaked sheets and started sobbing. "Soul?"

"I'm okay Wes I promise," Soul said as he felt the tears well up in his eyes. He knew calling out to him was futile, but he couldn't help it. Just standing there watching the scene unfold, tore strips off of Soul's heart. The weight of what he had inflicted on his brother in a previous lifetime threatened to crush him as he dropped to his knees and cried with his whole body. Why couldn't he leave this awful nightmare? Why was he forced to watch all of this happen, if it were a memory he should've left with his body a while ago.

As he watched Wes shake and sob, he grieved for his sad past, his old self's pain, and for what he had consequently done to his brother. As he sat there sobbing he thought he heard someone other than Wes calling his name. He held his breath trying to be as silent as possible to listen for his name. Just as he thought he had imagined it he heard it again. It sounded like Maka.

When Soul collapsed Maka wasn't sure what to do. She realized this must be Soul experiencing an intense memory, just like she had the night before. She rushed to lock the door then hit the light on their study room, hoping no one would look through the window, and even if they did, they'd just see the light from the laptop. She then carefully lowered Soul's shivering body to the floor so he wouldn't fall out of his chair. She sat on the floor with Soul and cradled his lanky form as best she could.

"Soul, come back," she said quietly. He felt clammy and his soft white hair was sticking to his forehead. She pushed it out of his eyes. She watched anxiously as his jaw clenched and unclenched. He looked more pale than usual, even to the point of being sickly in the bluish light of the computer.

If this is what Soul dealt with every time she got hit by the memory train, then she wanted to thank him for staying with her. It was scary, and stressful, and she didn't like it. The connection she normally felt with him seemed tangled while he was out like this. Maka recalled being able to hear Soul's voice in her memories when he called to her to come back so she tried to do the same. She repeated his name quietly as she rocked herself a little. When it felt like a long time had passed she began to sound a bit more frantic. It took a lot for her to stay quiet. His cheeks were wet with tears and it made her really worry. She couldn't see the clock in the dark room but it felt like it had been almost fifteen minutes. "Soul," she said urgently as she could in a whisper. She felt like she was about to really lose it when he started to move.

"Soul?"

"Ughh," he opened his eyes and pressed a hand to his forehead. That was the first time he personally experienced what he had seen Maka go through before. He looked up into her face, much like he had when he woke up the first time a few days ago in the desert. He felt the sobs welling up in his chest, but he did his best to stop them, he didn't want to worry Maka anymore, or for her to see him crying. "Thanks Maka. I didn't know how I was going to get back. I really, did _not_ want to stay there," he choked out as new tears threatened to streak his face. His head was throbbing and his heart hurt. He felt sore and tired, and the memory of the last time he cut himself burned his wrists.

"I was really scared you weren't going to come back…but I am really glad you did," Maka replied quietly.

"I wouldn't ditch you here anyways. It's a library, you might never leave," he joked.

She gave him a small smile, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah…but can we go back to the hotel?" He asked in a small voice. He moved to sit up a little. "I don't know how you function after these things, I feel like shit."

"Mhmm," she replied, still holding on to him. She was still feeling a little shakey and didn't want to let yet. Standing up without falling over did not feel like an option yet.

"Are _you_ okay Maka?" He said as he tried to sit up again. That was when he noticed she was shivering a little.

She nodded, "Yeah, that just sucked. I don't really know how, but I could tell you were gone. Like…your body was here, but _you_ were gone, for a while too."

"I guess I was in a sense. But you called me back. I heard you while I was in that memory."

"I was trying to call you back so that makes sense. Any time I've been in a memory I hear your voice. I think it's what brings me back. Is that the way it happened for you?"

"It does," he started. "I never really thought to ask you when you've gone. I just break down and panic," he smiled a bit and shrugged apologetically.

"I panicked too, so don't feel bad. It's all pretty fucked up…So what was the memory?"

"Uhm, I don't think you really wanna hear it. Interestingly though, I did see the moment time stopped for me. My last moments in the past…and then some actually. Maka, this wasn't just a memory. I saw some of what happened after I left, so they're more than just memories. They have to be."

"That must be why it feels like you're gone. Mentally you went back in time," she replied thoughtfully.

"I don't care for that," he said with a shudder.

"Soul," she looked at him intently. "I think I can handle it. Please tell me, we're in this pretty deep, and I would like to know about your past," she said carefully.

Soul sighed heavily before responding, " Please don't let it change how you think of me. I like how you see me now."

"You're ridiculous. First of all, I know you now, the way you are. And whatever happened is a part of who you are now. Whatever it was, baring kicking puppies or something, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"And?" he inquired.

"And what?"

"You said first of all, which implies a second of all, so what else?"

"Well, I don't know. We're partners now, in a sense. I rely on you and I don't think that will change," she shrugged.

Soul tried not to smile. He was pleased with her response, but given what he was about to admit, smiling would be an inappropriate response. But he was happy he could trust her.

"Well, I was trying to kill myself. I probably would have succeeded too, but that's when time stopped and my body just disappeared. I was there in my bed listening to music, same stuff I was playing for you actually, and I guess that day was just the last straw. I just laid in my bed, playing my favourite music, and I uhh, I slit my wrists. I watched as I bled out, and I think just as I was about to die time literally stopped. And then poof, my body disappeared from the bed."

He looked at Maka and she met his gaze with an even stare. "I'm glad you failed."

This time he allowed himself a small smile, "Me too."

She smiled back before continuing, "So what did you see that you don't think you should have?"

"Wes came to check on me. He found an empty, blood-soaked bed, and my room was messed up. No body though. He broke down… and it kind of broke me. I know on some level it's good I have a fresh start now, but after seeing that…I hurt him and I don't feel good about it."

"Don't beat yourself up. Whatever happened has happened for a reason. You're hear now, and we have no choice but to carry on. It was so long ago and maybe he was hurt and scared, but I'm sure to some degree he moved on."

"Think we could try to find him?" Soul asked tentatively.

"Of course. First let's find the Doctor's safe house, and then we'll figure out what we can do," she was surprised that he felt like he had to ask.

They sat there quietly for a moment. The way they were on the floor, Maka still cradling him, she could feel his hear beat. He cleared his throat in the silence and she became keenly aware that she was still holding onto him tightly in her lap. She dropped her arms. "Sorry," she said quietly.

He laughed and winked, "Don't be."

She rolled her eyes at him as he stood up, "Easy there Casanova."

He laughed again as he stretched and she flicked the light back on. "God damn woman, my eyes."

"Had to happen eventually," she moved to pack up the laptop. Out of the corner of her vision she saw Soul run his fingers across the puckered line on one of his wrists. She turned to him and gently pulled his arm forward towards her. She ran her fingers across the deepest, newest cuts, "Look, they're already healed shut, soon they'll start to fade."

"Amazing what fifty years can do," he gave an uncomfortable chuckle.

"Seriously. Although it is kind of weird they healed shut without stitches. Even though your body was suspended and forced through time."

"Like I said, fifty years –"

"Oh my gosh Soul, you know what I mean."

"I know I know, you're right about everything. I shouldn't dwell. It was at least fifty years ago, everyone else is either dead or over it. I'm pretty over it too. It just made me realize how much I miss Wes."

She punched him in the shoulder, "Big sap. We'll find out what happened to him."

"Ruthless Maka," he said rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder.

"You can take it," she said while scooping the remaining library supplies into her arms.

Soul opened the door for her and hit the light as they left. He followed Maka to the front desk where a different librarian was seated typing away at a computer.

"Excuse me," Maka said as she placed her armful carefully on the desk. "Is the blonde librarian still here?"

"Marie? No she left a few minutes ago. Do you want me to leave a message for her?" The woman behind the desk asked.

"Oh no that's okay thank you, we'll come back another time," she replied politely.

They walked out of the library together. As they fell into step together Maka linked her arm through his. Soul was okay with it, but a little surprised. He raised a thick white eyebrow at her questioningly when she looked up at him.

"It was a rough morning okay?"

It occurred to her that maybe she felt like she had to coddle him, or be extra nice because of what they had found out about his past. "I told you not to treat me differently because of my past," he said as he took his arm back. When he saw the hurt look on her face he immediately regretted his choice.

"It' not that you idiot. I've been through one of those memory trips before and it was crap. I felt sluggish afterwards both times. I just thought it might help a little, more balanced or something," she replied without looking at him.

"Oh. Okay, thanks," he hadn't expected her response and he could kick himself for accusing her of being anything but supportive. He offered her his arm to make up for being a dick. She glared at him but didn't accept.

"You're fine," she said sulkily. 


	8. Chapter 8

Maka calmly watched as Soul snored on peacefully. She spent the duration of his nap tidying the hotel room and gathering the few belongings they had. She hadn't necessarily planned for the delay Soul's nap had caused, but she could not deny him the break he clearly needed. He looked hollowed out when they had returned to the hotel room, despite her attempts to cheer him up on the brief walk from the library. Forgoing the nap herself, she decided to pack their stuff up so as to avoid having to pay for another night at the hotel, knowing they may not necessarily return.

Given the few things they had, packing did not take very long. She took stock of the money they had left and was pleasantly surprised; they had enough cash left to bounce between cheap hotels for a wile more if they needed to. As she folded and put her clothing into her backpack she felt the weight of the compact mirror in the bottom of it. She had put it in there after she initially received it, and refused to take it out since.

Once she was satisfied with the room she sat on the bed, contemplating her plan for the rest of the day. Soul was in a pretty deep state of sleep. His mouth was hanging open and his chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. She gently shook his shoulder, "Soul, nap time is over." No response.

She shook him a little harder, "Soul, it's time to get up and go." He grunted back but did not move. "C'mon Soul, we don't want to have to pay for another night in case we don't end up here."

He reached out to her slowly and placed his hand square over her mouth, "Hush."

Aggravated by his response she bit into his palm, hard. His hand snapped back and he jolted upright. "What the actual fuck Maka?!"

"You just covered my mouth, and _hushed_ me!"

"Oh-kay, but you just _bit_ me."

She narrowed her eyes at him dangerously, "I'd get up now if I were you."

He just grinned at her but made no move to get up. She lunged forward to give him a good smack, and unlike some of his earlier encounters with her fists, he was able to deftly roll out of reach to the other side of the bed. He expected, and perhaps even instigated this attack, so he was prepared. Recognizing that he was baiting her, Maka opted to just ignore him.

"Whatever, I'm leaving then." She grabbed her backpack and started towards the door when she felt a pillow make contact with her back.

"Oh Evans, what have you done," she dropped her bag and in one fluid motion grabbed the pillow from the floor as she lunged onto the bed and smacked him square in his smug face.

He laughed as he grabbed the other pillow and fired it back at her. "You have got to be kidding me," she huffed as she shoved him into the bed. "We are grown ass people having a goddamn pillow fight. And given our situation this is just ridiculous."

"Lighten up nerd," he said as he pulled her down next to him.

She landed on her back next to him, breathing a little more heavily from the exertion of fighting him. She looked over at him, "Name calling is not nice."

He looked back into her pouting face as he responded, "I say it affectionately. I think it's great that you're a bookworm. We certainly would not have made it this far if we were running on my brain power."

Her pout morphed into a small smile, "Shucks, that was almost a compliment."

"Don't let it get to your head Maks."

"Well, you're a music nerd…I mean so you say. I have yet to see you at a piano."

"We have yet to even find a piano you weirdo," he said sitting up.

"Will you play for me if we do find one?" She followed suit and sat up too.

He didn't know why the idea of playing for Maka made his stomach tie itself into nervous knots, "Pft. Get your priorities in order woman, we are looking for answers here and we don't need that sort of distraction." He got off the bed and gathered his backpack into his arms.

"Uhm excuse me. Since when were you in such a motivated hurry over there?" She sassed back as she got up.

"Since always, slacker."

She huffed at him as she led the way out of the hotel room door.

-

"So what is the plan, where are we going?" He said as he trailed behind her out of the hotel.

Maka zipped the remaining money back into her bag after she paid for their room. "Well the business card was for the pub right? So I figure that Marie woman was trying to guide us there. That and Dr. Stein, and those big beer mug things are called _steins_ , there were also a bunch of other tips in his papers, but there really isn't a point in me explaining. This is still a hunch after all."

"So what do we do when we get there?" He questioned.

"Well, Tom seemed like a decent guy. And as far as I can tell we just ask for the doctor by name. There is some sort of test we have to pass before we get to far anyways so I don't really know. I figure we could just flash him the card, tell him who gave it to us, and hope for the best."

"Hope for the best hunh?" Maka seemed like much too tedious a planner to be willing to leave things to fate, but he rolled with it.

Within a few minutes they were in sight of the pub. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to gently face him. "This could get weird or dangerous Maka, so… let's just be cautious and stick together okay?"

She grabbed his hand in hers, "We're in this together, don't worry."

They marched back into the pub and were pleased to see Tom was indeed working that moment.

"Hello," Maka said brightly as she approached him at the bar.

"Oh hey. I didn't think you kids would wanna come back after what happened last night," he smiled warmly at them.

"Well, admittedly we aren't here for food or drinks," Maka replied.

"Even though everything was great," Soul added in quickly.

"What can I do for you then?"

"Well, we are looking for…a doctor," Maka said. She slid the business card across the counter to him and continued, "A lovely woman from the library gave us this business card, I think she wanted us to look for the doctor here."

Tom looked at them both quietly. After a few moments of considering them he nodded. "Well, I suppose I do know a decent doctor but you'll have to wait a moment."

Soul and Maka nodded at him and he walked towards the back of the shop. Only a few seconds passed and he came back.

He leaned in close to them and spoke very quickly and quietly, "Make sure no one is around. Go to that side alley, towards the back of it is a door into the back end of this building. Lock the door immediately behind you. All three locks. Under the desk is a mat, and under that mat is a trapdoor, go down there and try to pull the mat as much over the trapdoor as you can. There's a light switch on the right when you get to the bottom of the steps. There are seven steps to the main tunnel. Don't fall, it fucking hurts. And the Doc... well. He's a weird guy, so be careful. Harmless though... for the most part anyways."

Soul was stunned and overwhelmed, he looked over at Maka who nodded, "Got it."

He didn't know how she stored all that information so quickly, but he had no doubts that she had.

"Thank you," Soul said quietly before he turned to follow Maka out of the door.

"You ready for this Soul?" she asked as she stood near the entrance of the alley. He nodded at her as she bent down at the entrance to the alley near the corner of the building.

"I'm going to tie my shoes, let me know when the coast is clear."

She pretended to be immersed in her shoelaces and Soul scanned the area. "We're good," he said as an older couple passed them to enter the diner.

Maka stood upright and quickly followed Soul into the alley. He headed to the back and saw an unremarkable black metal door. He took a deep breath before he pulled the door open. Him and Maka both slid in before he closed the door behind her. He threw the dead bolt near the top of the doorframe as she reached for the latch on the bottom. They met at the middle where they both attempted to push the lock on the knob at the same time. Maka threw him a look. He chuckled and stepped out of her way.

They stepped back from the door and turned to look around the room. The desk Tom mentioned was easy to spot in the sparsely furnished windowless room. There was a small desk lamp on the table providing dim lighting. Soul waited for his eyes to adjust to the lighting before walking up to the desk.

"I'll head down first and turn the light on, then you follow me and pull the mat and door behind you?" He squatted in front of the desk and pulled the small mat from under it.

"Sure," Maka replied as she followed him. "Be careful though okay?"

He nodded before pulling open the door. The steps Tom mentioned weren't too steep so he was not too concerned. He sat on the floor and scooted to fit under the desk before he felt into the opening to find the second stair. He had to slide down the first four stairs on his butt because he was too tall to fit under the desk well. As he was able to stand up he reached to either side of him to locate the tunnel walls. It was not very wide and the brick was cool to the touch. As he counted the seventh step he felt the light switch beneath his fingers. He flocked on the light and looked back at Maka as she climbed in. She had to lower herself in awkwardly so as to maneuver the mat to lie on top of the door.

He waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs for Maka to join him.

"Alright, let's do this I guess," she said as she stood next to him. The tunnel was not very wide, they were able to walk next to each other but their shoulders touched and every few steps he felt her hand brush against his.

The walked in silence for a few minutes, the tunnel got cooler as they went. After a few minutes of walking straight ahead the tunnel angled a little to the right and began to gently slant downwards. He felt Maka slide her small hand into his. It felt cold in his as he gently grasped her hand back. "Bookworms are afraid of the dark?" He said nodding towards the increasingly dim tunnel ahead of them.

"Not really, but we're not big on small, dark, cold tunnels that lead to I don't know where," she replied snarkily.

"It's fine," he said laughing lightly. "I don't really like this situation either. And I get to hold hands with the prettiest lady in the tunnel," he added smoothly.

"Oh hush," she said. He noticed a light blush dust the apples of her cheeks.

He laughed more, "Cute. I kind of forget you're a girl sometimes becuase you're such a scrapper."

"Oh my God Soul. Of course I'm a girl," the blush in her face turned to an angrier red.

"I know."

"Well?"

"I just like to give you a hard time. You should know that by now," he squeezed her hand to reassure her.

She grumbled a little in response but the red started to fade from her cheeks. He smiled to himself at the ridiculousness of his companion. Did she really think he could just forget that she's a girl? Her distressed reactions to his comments contradicted her typically aggressive and confident demeanor.

They walked silently for a few more moments before Maka interrupted his thoughts by clearing her throat.

He looked over and met her gaze.

"I know you like to tease me," she started. "And I know you do it for the reaction… But I can't help but react. You're just infuriating."

He laughed loudly as they continued down the dingy tunnel. After several more minutes they came to a stop in front of a large metal door with a metal handle. They stood awkwardly in front of the heavy door.

"Do we…go in?" Soul asked quietly.

"Yeah. Should we make a plan in case this takes a turn?" Maka asked looking up at him.

Even in the dim tunnel lighting her inquisitive eyes still looked bright. "Sure, well…I got your back regardless of what happens. So where ever you end up I guess I 'll be there too. We fight, it'll be together…And, I'm guessing we will have to be pretty hoenst with this doctor scienctist man, so let's be honest with each other?" He finished with a shrug.

At hearing how supportive Soul was, Maka felt more at ease. They were obviously stuck together, for whatever reason, but it was nice to know that Soul didn't see it as a bad thing. "I agree," she smiled. "And, I've got your back too…unless. Keeping any secrets from me Evans?"

He grinned back, "I'm an open book, and I know how you feel about books."

They both looked back at the door, "Shall we?" Maka said as she reached for the door handle.

"Well hold on. You should let me go ahead just in case. I'd feel better about that than letting you go ahead of me."

"Oh please. You know what I'm capable of," she huffed back.

"I do know," he said as he rubbed a phantom bump on his skull. "But I'd just feel better."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, "Let's just go in together then, okay?"

He nodded before finally letting her open the door. "It's pitch black," he said, as they both surveyed what was visible in the room before them.

Which was nothing. The light from the tunnel only illuminated about a foot passed the door. Maka peered in but her eyes were met with only pure darkness.

"Do we turn back?" she finally replied.

"Oh no, I'd much rather you came in," a deep male voice echoed from within the dark room.

They both jumped and held each other's hands more tightly.

"Who are you?" Maka called back.

"It is quite likely that I am the one you came all the way here to see, so I'd come in if I were you," the voice replied dryly.

Soul stood still waiting for Maka to lead. After only a brief hesitation she strode through the doorway pulling him along besides her. As soon as they had cleared the door it swung shut behind them. They were in pure darkness for only a moment before a bright, blinding light, shone down on them. Maka and Soul stood closely together.

"State your names," the voice echoed.

"Soul Evans."

"Maka Albarn."

"How did you find this location?" The voice asked.

Maka spoke up, "We went to the library at the college and did some research, a librarian by the name of Marie tipped us off by giving us a business card to the pub."

"Where did you come from?" The voice pressed.

Maka and Soul looked at each other before Soul cleared his throat and responded, "The past. It was the year of 2016."

"And how did you find each other?"

This time Maka spoke up, "I landed in the desert first. I was unconscious until I felt something strange deep in my mind, or soul, or something. I woke up to see Soul literally falling from the sky some distance away from me. For whatever reason I was drawn to his presence. I found him unconscious. He woke up eventually and…we've been together since."

"What was each of you doing when time stopped in the past?" The voice continued.

Maka looked at Soul, unsure if he would be as forthcoming with the stranger as he was with her.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before responding, "I was trying to kill myself. And in the memory, I got the impression I would have succeeded…you know, if time didn't freeze or fast forward or whatever."

The room remained silent for a few moments after Soul's admission. When the voice didn't immediately echo back in response Maka tried to look at Soul's face, but it was difficult in the aggressively bright spotlight shining down on them.

"What about you?" The voice finally replied.

"I don't remember," she replied automatically.

"Well. We'll have to work on that then. Come along. It's the large door directly in front of you." As the voice finished the spotlight dimmed as the rest of the room lit up. The room was large, with concrete walls and a high concrete ceiling. There were several large, heavy looking metal doors, around the perimeter of the room.

They hesitated only a moment before walking towards the door indicated by the voice. Soul wrenched the heavy door open and Maka cautiously followed him in. Before them stood Marie the librarian and a tall pale-skinned man. As soon as the cleared the door it slammed shut behind them just like the last one.

She followed Soul to stand across from Marie and the tall man where they all stood facing each other silently for a moment. Maka scanned her surroundings, trying to take in as much as she could. Marie looked very much the same as she had at the library; blonde wavy hair tumbling passed her shoulders, long black skirt grazing the floor, and the same kind smile shining from her face. Maka assumed that the strange newcomer was the professor. He was unusually tall with broad shoulders and an otherwise wiry frame. He looked fairly young but his hair was pure grey. Any exposed skin was crisscrossed with pale scars. He was wearing a grey turtleneck sweater and black pants topped off with a long white lab coat. His pale skin, combined with his clothing choices made him look like a character from a black and white movie.

After taking in the people in front of her she hazarded a glance at Soul. On the surface he was wearing a calm and even bored expression, but she could feel that he was tense and on edge.

"I suppose I should introduce myself," the tall man said, sounding annoyed by the whole situation.

"I am Doctor Stein. I know you've briefly met Marie before. She works closely with me as well as at the library. By working at the library she has access to a lot of important information, and she serves as eyes and ears on the outside, and can lookout for people like you. Now it is of some concern to me that you do not yet remember what you were doing when you were sent here. But that shall be of no consequence, we'll make sure that you remember everything that is pertinent."

Maka was not sure why, but the idea of being coerced into something made her feel uneasy.

"However, it won't be today, you will have plenty to deal with soon enough. Marie will introduce you to the others, and then take you to your room. The real fun will start tomorrow," he smirked before walking away from them briskly.

Marie smiled at them and took over, "Alright! Well, welcome Soul, Maka. You've certainly faced some challenges getting here by the sounds of things, so we'll try not to overwhelm you today. Follow me please," her smile was warm and genuine as she turned around to lead them through another door. They went down a short tunnel that opened into a large cavernous room. The ceiling looked to be at least three stories high. There were various heavy doors around the perimeter of the room. On the far wall, jutting out just below the ceiling was a glass-walled room overlooking the large cement room they had just entered. Most notable however, was the large wooden table straight ahead of them, surrounded by several odd looking people.

Marie led them right up to the small crowd by the table. Upon nearing them Maka was able to count five people around that table, and they all looked to be of similar age to her and Soul. "Alright, good afternoon everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to our newcomers, Maka and Soul. Maka smiled and Soul nodded, the same bored mask plastered to his face.

"Hello, my name is Kidd," a young man with jet-black bowl cut hair extended his hand to Soul and then Maka. He had three strange, horizontal white streaks in his hair. His eyes were a golden honey colour that stood out against his black formal clothing. He was wearing straight-legged black jeans, a collared white shirt, and a black cardigan on top. The cardigan was plain black except for a small white skull embroidered on the left breast pocket. Interestingly, he was flanked by, two model-like blonde girls.

Despite their varying hair lengths the girls looked to be closely related. "These are the twins, Liz and Patti," he indicated first the taller of the sisters, then the shorter. They both smiled and nodded. "They are my partners, and together we form a nearly symmetrical team." The shorter sister grinned and rolled her eyes dramatically at the mention of symmetry.

"Don't mind the village crazy man, he's got outrageous OCD," a boy still seated on one of the benches around the table said loudly. His short stature would have made it easy to miss him except that he had vibrant blue hair. It was shaggy and messy, bits of it dangled in his eyes while others stood directly on end, sticking out of his head like he had been electrocuted.

"I am the mighty Blackstar. If you'd like an autograph to save for when I am famous, don't be afraid to ask," he said loudly as he stood up. He reached out and firmly shook her and Soul's hands.

Finally, the last of the bunch stood from her spot on the bench next to Blackstar. Maka saw from the corner of her vision as Soul's eyes closely followed the movements of the girl. She stood gracefully and faced them. She bowed her head slightly before introducing herself. "I am Tsubaki, I arrived here with Blackstar, he is my partner." Maka could not blame Soul for staring. The blonde twins were beautiful, but Tsubaki had a calm grace that accompanied her statuesque appearance. She was tall and spectacularly curvy with long, shiny black hair that cascaded around her shoulders. Her clothing was modest but hugged her shape in a way that was difficult to ignore. Maka swallowed her envy and smiled at the quiet spoken girl.

Marie, who had been observing the introductions with a benign smile, spoke up now that everyone had spoken.

"So these folks have been staying with us for quite a while already. You two are actually sort of stragglers based on the Professor's projections. This room here is central to our operation. We meet, train, and have meals together here. That up there is the observatory and directly attached to it is Stein's lab," she finished as she pointed at the hanging room jutting out of the ceiling behind the group. At the mention of Stein's lab the group in front of them shuddered collectively and Kidd's face even went a little green.

"Anyways," Marie continued ignoring the group's reaction. "You can usually find these guys here, but now I will take you to your rooms, follow me please." She turned and led them through a door behind, and to the left of the table.

"This is the residential corridor," she said as she swung the heavy door open. The corridor was rather wide and flanked by multi coloured doors. On one side there was a blue door, a red door, a purple door, and a black door. The other side was six doors, alternating between green and yellow.

"Okay so the black door is the laundry room, the purple door is a co-ed lounge, the red door is the female facilities, and the blue door is the male facilities. The green and yellow doors are the bedrooms. Are you comfortable sharing a room together?" She directed the question at Soul and Maka suddenly. They looked at each other questioningly, Soul shrugged before turning back to Marie to reply.

"Sure, we already have been for days."

"Alright, good. We used to assign individual rooms, but everyone always ended up with their partners. I'm assuming everyone is just most comfortable with their partners nearby. You've all been through a lot though," she smiled but looked a little sad.

"Anyways, you are in yellow number two," she said indicating the farthest room on the left with a yellow door. Blackstar and Tsubaki are next door, and two doors down are Kidd and the Thompson sisters. Do either of you have a watch?"

Soul held up his left hand in response, showing his plain black wristwatch.

"Okay good. You'll have to set the clock in your room," she popped open their door and led them. The room itself was rather large, and surprisingly well equipped.

Maka began to survey the room when Marie continued, "Everything you'll need, including toiletries is in here. Now don't be too alarmed, but we have been expecting you so there are also some extra clothes in here for you. We weren't sure what state you'd be in when you arrived. You have a couple hours before dinner at six o'clock so I'll let you explore the room in peace. That phone," she pointed to a phone hanging on the wall to the left of the door, "has a bunch of numbers programmed and labeled already. Pretty much any room can be reached, I'll be in my office if you need anything. So anyways, until six you can relax, unpack, and cleanup if you'd like. Whatever works! See you kids at dinner."

"Thank you Marie, see you at dinner," Maka replied as Marie backed out of the door, closing it behind her.

As soon as the door snapped shut behind Marie, Soul felt immediate relief at finally being alone with Maka, for what felt like the first time in a while. After spending so much time with Maka, and feeling so at ease about it, he almost forgot how anxious being around other people made him. He did his best to maintain a calm, cool exterior when meeting everyone, but he really just wanted to run away. He got the sense that Maka was overwhelmed too. She had a tendency to want to analyze a situation, but they both knew there was just too much happening, and it was all too strange.

"You okay Maka?"

"…Yeah, are you?" She replied.

"I think so. But this is…a lot. Not that I had any expectations but…"

"I know what you mean," she said for him before he had to finish his thought.

They both surveyed the large room. To their left from their spot by the door were two small beds parallel to each other but several feet apart, each bed was accompanied by a small beside table. On the wall opposite to them was a large dresser with a coat rack next to it. To their right, taking up the entire wall was a large vanity flanked by an excess of cupboards and drawers. The vanity included a sink and mirror in the center of it all. On the floor next to the vanity were two small laundry baskets. A couple towels were neatly folded and placed at the end of each bed. The bedding was a dark grey and the pillows were a bright yellow to match the bedroom door. The room itself was a pale bluish grey and all the furniture was a dark polished wood with brushed silver hardware to match the taps and the sink.

"This is a really nice room," Maka breathed as she walked over to the farther of the two beds.

"Yeah, although it might be kinda hard to sleep. I got used to sharing one big bed," he said it without thinking. It hadn't occurred to him that it was an odd thing to say until he noticed Maka blushing a little. He was mentally scrambling to find a new topic to chat about when Maka responded.

"I know what you mean. Mind if I take this bed?" She said quietly as she dropped her bag onto one of the beds.

"Be my guest," he said as he flopped exhaustedly onto the other bed.

"I'm going to unpack and then shower okay Soul?"

He grunted back in response from his position face down in his pillows.

"You shouldn't nap, it'll make it harder to sleep tonight."

"Socializing makes me tired, I'm sure I will be able to sleep," he said groggily as he got more comfortable in the bed. He curled on his said and kicked the blankets up around him.

Maka felt a little hurt, "I exhaust you?"

"You don't count…idiot," Soul replied without moving. His eyes had drifted shut.

"Oh," was all she said in reply. She wanted to swat him for calling her an idiot, but she was pleased with his response, and he was already breathing deeply.

She began to unpack her bag by tucking the odds and ends in her bedside table. Things like the compact mirror and their remaining money. She took the dirtier of her clothing and tossed it into one of the hampers. She pulled open the top drawer of the dresser and found that it was already occupied. She reached in to investigate and ended up with a pair of boxers with the tags still attached in her hands. She tossed them back into the drawer and moved on to the second drawer. It was empty so she pulled open the next drawer down. This one had clothing in it too so she poked around. She pulled out a plain white tank top and continued to explore when she realized it was women's clothing meant for her. She found a flannel pajama set, a lighter nightgown, plain t-shirts in various colours, a pair of jeans, a pair of sweat pants, a couple plain sweaters, several multi-coloured underwear. Everything still had the tags and she was pleased that it was all her size too. They had everything covered, although she was not sure why she needed a bikini, she hadn't seen a pool, but the facility seemed huge and full of secrets. The last drawer was empty so she dumped the remainder of the clothing she brought into it.

She then explored the vanity. In one of the drawers there were two toothbrushes, floss, and even mouthwash. In another drawer there were two zippered bags. She assumed the purple one was for her and left the green bag in the drawer. There was more than she would ever ask for crammed into the cloth bag. Deodorant, make-up, hair clips, _everything_ and more. She opened another cupboard and fond several varieties of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. She grabbed a set of shower supplies that carried a description she liked. She found a plastic shower caddy and a louffa in another drawer and dropped all the supplies into the caddy. She gathered all the towels from her and Soul's beds. She kept a towel for use and dumped the rest into an empty drawer.

She looked over at Soul quickly to make sure he was still asleep before undressing and wrapping herself in one the fluffy, bright yellow towels. She gathered herself up and headed across the hall to the red door. She pushed the door open to find a brightly coloured dorm style bathroom. The walls were painted pale lavender, the floors were made up of large, alternating purple and white tiles and everything smelled clean. To her right was a row sinks and a wall of mirrors, on the parallel was a set of cubbies. Some of the cubbies were already occupied with the girls' shower stuff. All the cubbies were labeled and she found one with her name and a pair of plastic, sparkly, green flip-flops for in the shower. Next to the cubbies was a doorway to another area where there were three toilet stalls, and a wall shower stalls. She ran the water in one of the stalls and waited until it was steamy hot before hanging up her towel and jumping in with her caddy. The shampoo and matching conditioner she picked were a warm vanilla and smelled like something happy and sweet. As she was finishing up in the shower she heard someone else enter the bathroom. She heard footsteps pattering towards her rather quickly and then suddenly the shower curtain was thrown open.

"Howdy, howdy!" Patti, one of the blonde twins, greeted her loudly.

"Umm, hello," Maka said as she reached for her towel hanging on the outside of her stall. "Can I help you with something?" Maka continued when the blonde haired girl said nothing more.

"I'm Patti, and I wanted to show you around a bit more. Marie's tour is not super detailed or exciting. 

At this point Patti grabbed one of Maka's wrists and pulled her out of the shower. "Whoa, wait…" Maka stammered. The blonde ignored her protests and continued to drag Maka along behind her. Maka stumbled behind her, barely keeping the towel wrapped secured around her, her hair sopping wet and dripping everywhere. "Can I get dressed first?"

"Naw, no time. No one cares anyways."

Maka could feel herself getting more flustered as they emerged from the bathroom. She was pulled along to the blue door, which she then kicked open and announced, "This is the boys' bathroom, it's the same as ours except they have one of those pee fountain things."

"It's called a urinal, and get the fuck out Patti, for the last time, dudes only in here!" A voice echoed angrily out of the bathroom.

"Shove it Blackstar, this is a special occasion!" She shouted back before letting the door swing shut. She moved on to the laundry room and kicked that door open too, revealing a couple sets of washers and dryers, as well as a large drying rack. None of the machines were running, but a majority of the drying rack was in use. "Laundry. Boring. Moving on," Patti mumbled before quickly moving on and dragging Maka to the purple door of the lounge. She pushed the door open excitedly and pulled Maka in behind her. To her surprise there were people in the room already. The other two girls, Liz and Tsubaki, were sitting at a small table in one corner of the room painting their nails. The room was large and cozy with all sorts of comfortable chairs to relax in. There were several bookshelves crammed with books, board games, and movies. The very center of the room was slightly sunken and featured a large plush sofa in the shape of a half-moon facing a large flat screen TV. All in all Maka felt like to call this room a lounge was an epic understatement.

"This is the lounge!" Patti exclaimed loudly. The sudden outburst caused the other girls to look up in surprise.

"Oh for God's sake Patti, leave the poor girl alone, she's naked," Liz scolded.

"No! I'm almost done the resident's area tour," Patti retorted before dragging Maka to the other side of the hall.

She used her hip to pop open one of the bedrooms. No one was in it, but it was already occupied. Half the room was in disarray, with clothing strewn around haphazardly, while the other half was nice and tidy. Maka also noticed that the two smaller beds in the room had been pushed together to form one bed.

"This is Blackstar and Tsubaki's room. She used clean up after Blackstar all the time, but it looks like she gave up," Patti laugh-snorted a little before pulling her along to the next bedroom. "This is where Kidd, Liz, and I live," she said as she held the door open. They had a slightly different set up. Rather than individual beds, there was one bunk bed. The bottom bunk looked to be a double, and the top bunk was the size of the rest of the small single beds.

"We requested a bunk. Marie is very accommodating. Not so much Professor Stein though. So if you need anything ask her first."

"Good to know," Maka mumbled.

Finally Patti dragged Maka back to her own room. She energetically slammed through the door as she announced, "This is your room!"

Soul, who was clearly in the midst of heading to take a shower himself, tripped and fell over his own pants. He had a towel and some toiletries on the bed next to him and was in the middle off taking off his jeans, when they burst in and startled him. Maka stifled the giggle that rose in her throat when she saw his shocked face looking up at them from the floor. Watching him try to simultaneously stand up and detangle from his jeans was quite the sight. Patti grinned down at him before bounding away. "I'll give you your tour later, don't you worry," she called back over her shoulder. Maka closed the door behind Patti before finally letting out a giggle as Soul finally managed to stand up.

"What the hell was that?" Soul growled.

"She ambushed me in the showers. Insisted on giving me a tour."

"So that's why you're still marching around in the nude eh? How risqué," he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Maka blushed as she scrambled to come up with a reply, "Well you're the one doing a little strip tease over there."

He blushed a little, but not because she had walked in just the, she had seen him in his boxers before, rather it was because of what _he_ had seen earlier. He was dozing off earlier but had looked over at Maka to ask her something before she left for her shower. He hadn't realized that she was undressing in their room, and it was quite likely that she hadn't realized he wasn't actually asleep yet.

He chuckled awkwardly, "Yeah. I'm sure I put on a good show." He could've got her back by mentioning what he had seen earlier, but he figured it would earn him a solid kick, and things might get awkward. Besides if he mentioned it, he might have to explain why his eyes lingered a few more moments than necessary. It wasn't that he was _staring_ but Maka was a pretty girl and she had caught him off guard.

"Whatever," she mumbled, "Can you go hit the showers already so I can get dressed?"

"Yeah, wouldn't want to flash me by accident or something right?" He smiled at his own inside joke before heading for the showers.

As soon as Soul left Maka headed for her drawers and grabbed some of the less frilly undergarments. She also grabbed a pair of sweats and one of the plain t-shirts. It took her no time to get dressed so she grabbed a hairbrush and flopped down onto the bed. She intended to brush her hair but once she had settled onto the bed she was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was. She lay down, the hairbrush forgotten completely. She nestled into the pillows and sighed contentedly. As she lay there feeling more and more sluggish a thought crossed her mind. _Soul had blushed earlier, and let had let her win their bickering easily._ Too _easily._ It couldn't have been from her walking in on him, he typically seemed unfazed being in his boxers around her before. He had blushed at the mention of his strip tease. What if it was because he had seen _her_ undressing before? She hadn't confirmed that he was actually asleep. She sleepily shook the thought out of her mind. She was overwhelmed, the excitement of the day taking its toll combined with the comfort of her new bed. Her eyes had already drifted shut and she drifted off before she knew it.


	9. Chapter 9

She felt something cold and wet drip onto her cheek. She opened her eyes, slightly confused. Soul was leaning over her, his face close to hers. The water had dripped from his newly washed hair.

"Hey sleeping beauty, I thought you said no naps?" Soul teased.

"Oh no! I never meant to fall asleep, how long was I out for?" She asked as she stretched out in the bed.

"Couldn't have been that long. I was only in the showers for like fifteen minutes."

"Okay good," she said as she sat up and grabbed the hairbrush from where it had remained unused on the bed beside her. She roughly brushed out her hair and let the damp strands fall loose around her shoulders. She walked over to examine her reflection in the mirror. Other than the purple smudges forming under her eyes from lack of sleep she felt like she looked okay. The bruises from the thug in the alley were fading. She felt that attempting to look at all good would be wasted effort the moment she sat next to any of the women she met today. Especially Tsubaki with her statuesque figure and shiny black hair.

"When you're ready we can meet the others. It's almost dinnertime," Soul said nodding towards the digital clock on her bedside table.

"I guess we might as well," she sighed trying to forget her inadequacies.

Soul's stomach chose that moment to growl pointedly. "We don't really have a choice at this point," he said poking his own belly with a pout.

They wandered out of the residents' area to the main room they had passed through when they arrived. The majority of the group was hanging around the large table, but Blackstar was in the farthest corner of the large room. Soul hadn't noticed it when they initially passed through, but there was as small gym area in the corner. There was a set of weights on a large metal unit, and a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. There were mats on the floor, and throwing himself around the mats was Blackstar. Tsubaki looked over at them from her spot at the table as they walked over.

"He trains longer than most of us," Liz grumbled from where she was seated across from Tsubaki.

"And what exactly is everyone training for?" Soul asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

"Well most of us have targets on our backs now that we have been in the future for awhile. That and we keep trying to infiltrate Medusa's organization. Inciting civil unrest, and the like is not exactly tolerated under Medusa's rule," Kidd stated in a matter of fact tone.

"So, just getting here wasn't enough?" Maka sighed.

"Unfortunately not," Tsubaki said with a sympathetic smile.

"Don't worry about it today. The Doc will work you guys over plenty tomorrow," Patti said cheerfully.

"Yeah, and everyday after that," Blackstar said loudly, appearing suddenly at the table.

Soul did _not_ like that sounds of that. All he wanted was a safe place to find some answers. Maybe some hot meals. Bringing down someone with an ominous name like _Medusa_ , was not on his list.

"Alright folks! Supper is ready," Marie said cheerily as she pushed a large cart of food into the room from a door on the other side of the table.

Almost instantly Soul could smell deliciousness. He felt his mouth start to water as the others rushed to line up in front of the cart. There were two levels to the cart. The lower of the two covered in stacks of dishes and cutlery, the top piled with food. As he got closer he saw a large pot of rich looking stew, likely the source of the smell, a basket of soft dinner rolls, veggies for dipping, and so much more of everything than he thought could ever fit on that cart.

Him and Maka watched as each of the others picked up bowls and spoons from the bottom shelf and ladled the delicious smelling stew from the pot. He let Maka go ahead of him before serving himself, despite the angry growls coming persistently from his stomach. When he was finally able to join Maka at the table the only seat left was next to Blackstar. He and Maka sat quietly and he took in the dynamics of the surrounding group. All of it was severely overwhelming. The loudness and activity of some of their new found peers was almost too much to bear. He could feel himself shrinking away from people again. The safety he felt that allowed him to be himself when it was just him and Maka was starting to crumble away. Marie, who seemed to have a calming effect on the group, had long since served herself and had taken her food back through the door she came through.

"She usually eats with Stein if he is too busy to join us at the table," Kidd had said as she walked away.

The rest of supper went by in a flurry. Blackstar threatened to fight who ever went up for seconds before he got a chance to do so, and Patti almost knocked her stew into Maka's lap several times. Even the primped Liz got loudly annoyed with Kidd several times for trying to keep the table settings symmetrical. And all these strange new people had fired several questions at him and Maka. Luckily Maka was willing to answer for both of them and he could just keep his head down and enjoy the stew.

"Who is on dish duty?" Blackstar said after a particularly loud belch.

"You. Dumbass," Patti said, undoing the top button of her pants and sighing contentedly.

Blackstar slumped into his seat, "Can't be, I just did 'em."

"By just did them do you mean last week? Because that means it is your turn all over again idiot," Liz said grumpily.

"It's alright Blackstar. I'll help you," Tsubaki said smiling at him as he rubbed his bloated belly.

"Why do you _always_ enable him Tsubaki," Liz said rolling her eyes.

Maka sat there quietly taking the dynamics of the group in. It seemed as though Tsubaki was quite patient with Blackstar. She might've thought they were together in a sense, but the girl also came across as a bit like a doting mother, so it could go either way. She let her eyes wander around the table until they met Soul's. It looked like the noisier interactions were wearing him thin and he needed time to wind down. He gave her a small forced smile, but continued to cringe every time the others got particularly loud. Maka found herself feeling a little sorry for him, remembering how he seemed to prefer solitude in most of his memories that they had revisited.

Maka cleared her throat, "Thank you for having us, and taking us in… and feeding us. We're kind of…wiped now though. Had a bit of a long day."

"Of course you did, you've worked pretty hard to get here," Tsubaki said with a kind smile. "You are both welcome to turn in for the night. We won't wake you up at a particular time, but breakfast is at about 10:00 a.m. tomorrow okay dear? After that you will have to spend some time in the lab with the Professor Stein," she averted her gaze and her smile wavered slightly at the mention of the lab. Maka looked around the table and noted the unease in all the others' faces.

"Okay, sure. We'll uh. See you then," Soul said quietly as he stood up. Maka followed his lead, stacking their dirty plates together on the cart. She heard the others' whispering among themselves as they walked back to their room. She and Soul exchanged an uncomfortable look.

As soon as she closed the door of their room behind her she turned to Soul who had already slumped onto his bed, his head hanging and his silvery hair falling to cover his face. "Are you okay?" she asked as she sat down on her bed facing him.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "It's just that I got used to only being around you, I forgot how anxious I get around other people." He sighed and it looked like he was going to collapse inwards on himself.

"We only just met them, and they're all used to each other. You'll get used to them eventually. Besides, didn't you say that you see this as sort of a new start for you? You can be as confident as you want. Just set the tone for yourself going forward. They don't know about you, or your past, you can be whoever you want, you know?" Maka said, trying to be encouraging.

"Yeah, I think you're braver than me though," he said granting her a small smile and looking up at her through his pale eyelashes.

She felt a small blush creep across her cheeks as she responded, "Hey, it's a new start for me too."

"I guess you're right. I will try to play well with others, but mostly I wanted to be away from all the noise. That blue haired kid especially. Blackstar? He seems nice enough, but holy shit was he hyper," he said with a chuckle.

They both turned and faced the door in response to a small knock. "Um, come in," Maka called as she stood up and took a few strides towards the door.

Tsubaki peeked her head in through a small crack. She gave them a small smile, "Hello, sorry if I am bothering you, just thought I would come talk to you briefly. I could tell dinner made you a little uncomfortable. We are a lot to take in I'm sure."

"Oh," Maka gave a nervous giggle, "It's fine. We just forgot how to be around other people. And, we don't know ourselves well enough to know if that's a new thing or if that's just how we always were."

Tsubaki smiled, "Give it time, it'll all come back soon enough. Not all of it wanted mind you, but still." Her smile slipped a bit as she continued, "That's part of the reason I came here. Stein's methods are effective, very effective. So you'll remember what brought you here essentially, and unfortunately we all have some of that in common… I heard that Soul already knows what happened to him right?" She looked to Soul for confirmation.

He nodded quietly in response before she continued, "But you still haven't remembered Maka?"

She nodded solemnly, having a rather grim theory about why she was among the 'chosen' to be brought through time.

"It can be a little traumatic Maka, I am not going to lie. But it is all very important information to know about yourself. And I just want you to know, that now that you're here you have the unwavering support of all of us. We've all been through our different hardships. And unfortunately, it's been pretty messy for all of us, but that means we can all be of some assistance, if you ever need it. And that goes for both of you," she said looking back to Soul meaningfully.

Maka swallowed audibly before responding, "Thank you Tsubaki, that means a lot. We are pretty…confused by all this, so the support will be helpful. Thank you."

Soul found himself liking this girl despite his earlier anxieties around the group. "Yeah, thanks," he heard himself say gruffly. He looked from Tsubaki to Maka, who gave him a small smile. He suddenly felt very glad that he had made it this far and that Maka was there with him. The group of people he met was loud and full of activity, but if Tsubaki was any indication, they would all be good people to have around. _And,_ Maka was starting to feel like a good luck charm. She helped to bolster his confidence, and made him want to be braver.

"Goodnight guys, welcome to the team," Tsubaki said as she backed out of the room and closed the door behind her. The word _team_ hung in the room even after Tsubaki had

They sat in silence a moment after Tsubaki left. Maka sat back down on her bed and they looked at each other for a moment in silence before he decided to speak up, "So, we should get ready for bed then?"

She nodded and got up and walked over to their shared dresser. He waited a moment and then rifled through the vanity to find a toothbrush and toothpaste. He started brushing his teeth and had spaced out when Maka interrupted, "Will you just stand in a corner and look away while I change? I don't want to go across to the bathroom to change."

He rolled his eyes in an exaggerated motion at her before standing in the corner by the door. He waited until all the rustling around stopped before trying to talk to her around his toothbrush, "Are you done yet?" He slurped by the toothpaste that was about to drip from his mouth.

"Yeah yeah, you're good," she grumbled.

He turned around as she pulled her second sleeve into place. "Took ya long enough," he managed before spitting into the sinking.

"You're one to talk buddy, I still gotta brush _my_ teeth."

He shrugged before going to turn on one of the bedside table lamps and climbed into his bed.

"So this is all extra weird. Things just keep happening, is it possible that I've been in shock since crash landing in the desert? Did that even really happen?" Soul rambled on as Maka hit the overhead light and crawled into her own bed.

"I don't even know what to tell you," she sighed heavily as she reached over to turn off the lamp. "It's been…nonstop."

"And, it hasn't even been a week since we met in the desert," he added.

"You're right…" she said quietly. He turned onto his side facing Maka, her face lit faintly by the red glow from the alarm clock on the bedside table. Seeing her a few feet away from him, in her own bed, made him notice how cold and small his bed felt now. It hadn't taken long, but he had gotten used to sharing a larger bed with Maka. He was going to point it out but felt the heat creep into his face at what she might think he was implying.

"Soul?"

"Mhmm."

"I'm a little scared of what the professor might do tomorrow. Have you noticed that they all get a little weird about it? I feel like it's gonna hurt somehow," she admitted in a hushed voice. It made him feel like she was telling him a secret, and he liked it.

"Yeah, I noticed. I don't like it… but I think it's what we have to do. It kind of feels, necessary?"

"I know what you mean. It's weird missing a whole past, it feels like that tip of the tongue syndrome thing," she replied.

"Oh la la, tip of the tongue, I've never heard of it, sounds sexy though," he said trying to sound as sultry as possible.

"Ew, what the hell you perve," she said as she took her pillow, reached over, and hit him over the head in a quick fluid motion. "That is not what I meant."

"Jeeze Maka, I know, I was just kidding," he said seeing stars. How did she even hit that hard with a _pillow._

"Hmph," she replied as she rolled away from him.

He felt emboldened by the fact that she was no longer facing him so he voiced his earlier thought, "Is it weird that I kind of got used to sharing a bed?"

She remained still for a moment without responding. He started to get a little uncomfortable by the drawn out silence.

"I don't share beds with perves," she said grumpily. "Especially perves who derail serious conversations with their perving."

He rolled his eyes.

"I could _hear_ you roll your eyes," Maka said as she rolled back over to face him, a grin in place.

"Oh and I am the weird one," he grumbled back.

"Goodnight Soul," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Night Maka."

He woke up disoriented several hours later. He looked over at the clock flashing that is was 3:00a.m. That's when he heard whimpering, likely the sound that woke him up.

"Maka?" He said trying to wake up and figure out what was going on. She didn't respond, but instead cried out in her sleep. He stood up and slowly walked over to her bedside. She was curled up in a tiny ball and she was shivering despite the blanket. She whimpered again. _Maybe I should wake her up…_

"Maka," he said gently, shaking her a little. She continued to shake, and was practically crying at this point. "Maka! Wake up, it's okay," he said more insistently.

" _Maka!"_

She sat up with wide eyes and hair wild and tangled. She looked over at him, and the red light from alarm clock reflected off the tears welling up in her eyes. "Soul?" She breathed sounding confused.

"Are you okay?" He said as he sat down on the bed across from her.

"I think so…" she sniffled trying to hold the tears back.

"What happened?"

"Nightmare, it was…it was really sad Soul. I _did not_ like that. It felt so real," she finished, the tears finally spilling over onto her cheeks.

"Well it's not real okay? You're here now with me, and I will keep you safe okay?" He said trying to soothe her. He reached over and brushed the tears off her cheeks with his thumb. The gesture was foreign to her, but not unwelcome. She didn't remember much about her past, but she knew she hadn't been afforded this level of kindness in quite some time.

She nodded her eyes cast down. "Thank you."

"No problem, now try to get some sleep okay? I feel like this Stein fellow is going to be exhausting.

He almost missed it when she spoke to him, she was so quiet he barely heard her over the rustling of his sheets.

"Soul?"

He stopped moving straining to hear her, "Yeah?"

"You were right earlier, it _is_ kinda weird not sharing the bed, and that nightmare was horrible…"

He looked at her trying to comprehend what she wanted. "Do you want me to push the beds together?" He asked carefully trying not to blush.

"Is that okay?"

"Of course." He got back out of bed and started rearranging the furniture so he could push their beds together. "Just…just stop calling me a perve will ya?"

She giggled a bit, "Stop being a perve then."

He threw her a glare as he climbed into bed next to her. They settled back in, a small gap between them. They were silent for a few minutes, and he had started to doze off again when he felt ice-cold feet slide between his knees. "Oh my GOD, what the hell Maka?"

"I'm sorry…I'm just so cold. And you're so warm," she giggled as she wiggled her feet around.

"Why does bed time turn into battle with you? My feet are cold too you know. Here check it out," he said trying to put his toes on her back.

"Oh I don't think so shark teeth," she said deftly flipping them both around. He was really confused as to how he ended up face down with his hands behind his back with one of Maka's knees pinning him down square behind his shoulder blades. He tried to wriggle out of her hold but was met with her driving her knee harder into his back.

"Damn it Maka, are you a fucking ninja? How the hell did you do that?"

"Well…I took up self defensive martial arts not too long ago…I picked it up with surprising efficiency." He could hear her grinning through her voice as she responded.

"Okay well uncle, I'm tapping out, whatever you need to hear to let me go. You monster," he tried to muster as much force in his voice as he could despite his struggle to keep his face from being buried in his pillow.

She rolled off of him and onto her side facing away from him. "You still cold," he asked, hearing the petulance in his own voice as he spoke.

"Yeah, it wasn't that difficult beating you up. I thought it would be more of a warm up, but it was just so easy." He knew she was trying to get under his skin. He also knew that it was working.

Rather than responding he just grumbled complaints under his breath as he readjusted to snuffle up behind her.

"So the hot air from your complaining is going to keep me warm instead then?" She said sarcastically.

"Just hold on jeeze." He finally settled, his knees against the back of hers and an arm draped around her shoulders.

"This okay?"

"Mhm," she hummed quietly.

He was grateful for the dark now as he felt the blush creeping into his face.

"You're like a toaster oven," Maka said, interrupting his embarrassment.

"And _you're_ welcome."

Several silent minutes passed and he was on the verge of falling asleep again.

"Soul?"

"Mhm," he replied drowsily.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry for waking you up."

Maka was almost uncomfortable when he didn't answer. She tensed up unsure of whether or not she upset him, until he snored.

She let out a relieved chuckle. Slowly in the quiet of their room her mind slowly returned to the memory of her horrible nightmare. She tried to shake it off, the visions of Soul dying, the flashbacks to the times she had been beat up the worst by her ex. She tried to shake it off and instead tried to focus on Souls slow rhythmic breaths as he slept soundly beside her. Eventually she felt the fog of sleep take over.


	10. Chapter 10

Maka woke up to a tuft of soft white hair tickling her nose and the sound of activity from the hallway outside their room. She took a moment to try to take in her surroundings in the dim red light of their alarm clock. It was hard to tell what time it was in their windowless underground room and she couldn't see passed Soul's sleeping form to actually see the time. The only suggestion that it might be morning, was the sound of people opening and closing doors in the hallway outside. She took stock of her current position, she was lying on her back with Soul's head tucked under her chin, his legs were tangled with hers, and one of his arms was resting across her belly. While it was nice to be snuggled and warm next to someone, it took a lot of self-control for her not to have torn out of the bed with embarrassment. She scolded herself internally for being so self-conscious, but still tried to remove herself from under Soul's limbs.

It was a task that proved to be fairly difficult; he was quite heavy when his arms and legs were limp with sleep. Every time she thought she had gotten a little space between them, he snuggled in closer. After a few minutes of quietly struggling she let out a frustrated grunt.

"Whassamater?" Soul said groggily, lifting his head slightly to look at her.

"Well, I _was_ trying to get up. But you're a little heavier than you look Snow White."

"Ha, Snow White. I haven't heard that one before," he said sleepily as he tucked his head back under her chin.

"Soul, you are making this difficult, and we should probably get up soon."

"There is no pleasing you," he said through a yawn.

"Pardon me, but how so?"

"Well first you're all wah Soul I'm scared, I'm cold, I'm gonna beat you up if you don't warm me up. And now you're all wah I'm trying to get up."

"I'm sorry, are you just still too asleep to realize that I will kick your ass. Or are you just that dumb?"

"Both?"

"I was trying not to get violent Soul."

The only response she received was a light snore. She narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath before launching herself out from under his limbs and running to the door. She flicked on the overhead light.

"SOUL!"

"UGHHHH MAKA! DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE A KILLJOY?!"

She felt that one sting a little more than she wanted to admit. "Fine Soul you keep sleeping. I am going to go have breakfast with the others." She flicked the light back off and started doing her best to find a sweater in the dark room.

Hearing Soul's shuffling made her freeze in her hunt for a sweater to throw on over her pajamas. He shuffled right up behind her and threw his arms over her shoulders. He went limp making her knees buckle a little. He was draped over her like a heavy backpack…that smelled like sleep.

"Your morning breath is foul," she said grumpily, her knees starting to wobble.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you…I'm not a morning person you know?"

"Oh, I know."

"Makaaaa," he whined. "I won't leave you alone until for forgive me." He dropped even more of his weight onto her now bowing back.

"Okay! Okay. I forgive you, just get the hell off," she grumped back.

She straightened up as he shuffled away to get ready. After a few more seconds of fishing around blindly in the drawers she gave up. "Can we please turn the lights on now?"

Soul flipped them on and groaned in response. She smirked to herself, already familiar with Soul's inability to function first thing in the morning. He wandered across the hall to the bathroom and she brushed her teeth in their room at their own vanity. Soul returned to the room as she finished brushing her teeth and was washing her face with cool water. She flicked some cold water at him before she grabbed a towel to dry off. He flinched and grumbled something incoherent as he shuffled towards their shared dresser. They finished getting ready quickly and in relative silence before heading out the door of their room to join the others for breakfast.

Maka held the door open and chuckled before following him out, "You'll have to actually wake up eventually you know." His sleepy morning routine was cute to an extent but at some point having a grumpy and quiet companion lost its amusement.

He rubbed his eyes and shook his shaggy hair back from his face before responding. "Perfection takes time Maka, and while I can admit no one is perfect, a cool guy like me is pretty close."

"I guess cocky Soul is back eh?" She said, still smiling.

"Well, what you said kinda got to me. I mean why not be the cool guy I always wanted to be in my old life? All that was holding me back then was the way I felt towards my family. They wanted prim, proper, and the perfect gentleman. How did I react? Sad, angsty, withdrawn emo kid. _Now_ I can just be."

"I'm impressed Evans," she looked over at him and threw him a grin as they started to approach the table.

Kid and the twins were by the gym area sparring and Blackstar was in a corner of the mats lifting weights. Tsubaki was seated at the table reading a small soft cover novel. Soul nudged Maka in the ribs and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Woman after your own heart there hunh Maks? She reads too, maybe you'll be b-f-f-s."

"Oh my god, shut up," she mumbled back as she sat down. Although she wouldn't admit it to him, he wasn't wrong. She had already taken a liking to the quieter girl. She had a kind smile and a very nurturing approach. Something about her just incited comfort and trust.

As they settled at the table Tsubaki marked her page in her book before setting it aside. "Good morning, how did you two sleep?"

"Pretty well for the most part," said Soul, his eyes shifting quickly to Maka seated beside him.

"And how about you Maka?"

"I had some bad dreams but other than that it was really comfortable. The room is quite lovely."

"Glad to hear that!" Marie interjected as she wheeled the food cart into the room. It was very reminiscent of hotel room service. Marie was smiling brightly as she called the others to join them at the table.

Once everyone had gathered at the table with plates full of eggs, toast, and bacon, Marie sat at the end of the table to join them. She waited until they had started eating before interrupting the idle chatter at the table. "So, what are everyone's plans today?"

"The twins and I were hoping to follow the most recent lead we have on Medusa's operative in the area. Ideally we will capture him and bring him back to the professor for questioning," Kid said while Patti nodded along enthusiastically.

"That's great! Make sure you see me for a briefing before you leave," Marie said before looking to Tsubaki and Blackstar.

"I plan to train more and then go out to get groceries by the cover of darkness, like the ninja that I am," Blackstar responded.

"I was hoping to stay back today. To make sure Soul and Maka…are still settling comfortably after their um, meeting with the professor," Tsubaki said quietly. She was trying hard not to look at Soul or Maka, that much was obvious to Maka.

The somberness that took over the group at the mention of Stein was unnerving and Maka wasn't sure if they should try to run away or not.

"Hold up," Soul said loudly from beside her. "Why does everyone suddenly act like someone died every time he comes up? It does not make me want to go see him. And lets be real here, neither of us straight up agreed to doing this anyways."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats, but Maka was grateful that Soul had spoken as she was having the same fears.

"Experiencing memories from the past tends to bring up old trauma, as I am sure you are both aware. You've both experienced these flashbacks if I recall correctly but those were isolated events. What you will experience here is much more…immersive. He's going to have questions and most importantly, so will you."

Maka looked at Soul as he finished addressing the group and she saw her own fears reflected in his deep red eyes. "Do you think we could speak to Marie alone for a moment?" she said to the others at the table. They all nodded solemnly as they walked away from the table.

"Marie," she said when the others had disappeared behind the door to the residents' hall. "We know we need to experience this, this memory thing. Whatever you want to call it. We _want_ to know what happened to us in the past, who we are…why we're here. We're prepared for the consequences. Apparently it's awful, but everyone survives right? They all seem fine, jumpy about the doctor. But otherwise, fine."

"Well Maka…to be entirely honest. Not everyone survives the memory retrieval process. We…we've lost a pair of partners before. See we had one woman arrive here with her partner. They had no past connection other than a brief encounter, but when they arrived here they became so connected. Anyways, when he learned about his past he…he couldn't take it. He went on about the kind of man he used to be, but didn't share much more than that before he couldn't take it anymore. He killed himself and well basically, her soul left with his, by choice or not we aren't sure yet," Marie finished with tears welling in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Marie. Is that why everyone looks so upset when we bring it up?"

"In part yes. Remember that they've all been through this before as well, and not so long ago either. Things change fast around here, but they'll _always_ remember what they went through now."

Soul sat there silently throughout the whole exchange, processing what Marie had to say proved to be harder for him that it was for Maka. He could practically see her brain firing off, developing answers to questions and forming new questions as she went. He could even see her desire to ask the questions, the words dying in her mouth when she saw the tears gleaming in Marie's eyes. Soul was grateful in that moment that Maka was able to quell her curiosity. Marie did not look as though she could handle much more discussion on the topic.

"Just one more question, please," Soul interjected. Marie and Maka both trained their eyes on him as he continued.

"Can we nail out the politics of all this soon too? You know, Kishin armies, Medusa, Asura…We've read things, we've seen things on TV, but really we have no idea what happened to this world. It's been…well decades. And…and _none_ of those names ring a bell from our past."

"Yes, of course we will be telling you all of that, you'll get a full briefing with Dr. Stein."

"Which we have to go to right now?" Maka inquired.

"Please," Marie said smiling. "It's good you are dressed comfortably, it'll be a long morning." Maka and Soul exchanged a brief look before Marie stood up. "I'll be back in a moment to escort you two up to the lab. I'm Just going to make sure he's ready."

They waited until the door closed behind Marie before turning on the bench to face each other.

Maka was tracing the wood grain of the bench in front of her with one of her fingers. Her eyes were fixed on the spot between them where her index finger followed the swirling pattern over and over again. Soul cleared his throat, unable to see her face behind a curtain of silvery blonde hair.

"Ma-ka," he said slowly, emphasizing each syllable to get her attention.

"Yeah?" she said as she looked up at him.

"It'll be okay, the others did just fine."

"You heard her, there are people who don't make it. Besides what…what if you kill yourself? I won't be able to stick it out. This is too scary to deal with alone."

"Maka, remember? I tried to kill myself once… survived miraculously…crash landed in a desert and decided that this was a second chance that I don't want to fuck up. Remember?"

"You're right. But what if _I_ can't handle the truth?"

"You will. Think of everything else you've survived until now," he said gruffly, seemingly annoyed that she was even doubting herself at all.

She nodded but did not respond otherwise.

"I won't _let_ you give up then okay? I'll be just as annoying and stubborn as you already think I am. We got this okay?"

She gave him a small smile. "Okay okay. Stubborn loser."

"Hey, I am a rather cool guy. Don't forget that."

Maka was about to respond with a comment that she hoped would sting just a little when Marie pushed open the door on the other side of the table.

"We're ready upstairs now! You two ready?"

"As much as we can be for something we don't really wanna do," Soul said sulkily.

They followed Marie into the hallway behind the door, and up a gently sloping, but narrow set of stairs.

Soul stepped back to allow room for Maka to go ahead of him up the stairs and was the last to emerge at the top of the stairs. He looked around the sterile white room for a few moments. There were low tables made of brushed metal covered with beakers, hot plates, jars, papers, and more all over the room. Against the farthest wall was a big contraption that looked like an exceptionally complicated dentist's chair. Tucked into a corner behind the chair was a desk with a small laptop and stacks of paper covering the top of it. Seated in front of the desk was the strange, pale doctor.

"Hello Soul, Maka. It's a beautiful day for dissecting don't you think?"

"Dissecting what? Weirdo." Soul mumbled.

The doctor stood up abruptly, "You're mind and memories of course," he said as his lips tugged at the corners into a small smirk.

Maka couldn't help but shudder in response. Marie nodded at them all before ducking back down the stairs.

"So the process by which your memories are extracted to the surface, conscious part of your brain, is complicated and would take a considerable amount of time to explain in detail. As a result this brief explanation will have to do. This fancy chair, as it has been so aptly described before," Dr. Stein said, disdain dripping in his tone, "is a sophisticated piece of technology that uses small but targeted, electrical impulses to polarize your memories so that the secondary pulses can magnetically bring them to the neurons firing in the conscious long-term storage part of your brain. Does that at least make a little bit of sense to you?"

Maka nodded, her mouth slightly open in awe, "What an advanced piece of equipment you've created Doctor. Is it safe?"

"Perfectly harmless, however the memories may not be. Any danger you face is from within your own mind and soul."

Soul swallowed audibly, he could feel his throat tighten from the anxiety. He'd visited the scene of his own death, _and_ watched as Maka was hurtled head first into her past life's traumas. If those isolated incidents were any indication of what these, concentrated forays into the past would be like; they'd be exhausted in every way in no time.

"If I recall correctly, you haven't remembered when time froze for you," he said with a pointed look at Maka.

"That's right," she responded quietly.

"Well then, have a seat," he said gesturing at the strange chair.

"Uhm, Doctor," Soul said quickly. "Why don't I go first?" He was worried that the Stein was being a little misleading about how safe the experience would be, and if it was dangerous, he'd rather they find out through him than Maka.

"Your chivalry is…charming, but entirely unnecessary," Stein replied seeing Soul's intentions clearly.

Soul reddened but said no more as Maka looked over at him.

She reached over and touched his arm, he looked over at her next to him into her intense gaze. "Thank you Soul, but I need to do this eventually I'm sure I'll be okay. We're strong, we can get through this," she said, mirroring his earlier sentiment.

He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile before Stein interrupted.

"Touching moment, now if you would Maka," Stein said as he lifted the arm of the chair and unbuckled some straps.

She climbed up into the chair and sat patiently as Stein buckled straps, attached wires to her, and began to flip switches. He put one last clip onto one of her fingers. "This will monitor your vitals, this is how I know when you are in a memory state, when you are present real time, and if something goes wrong. This is also why I have to strap this arm down, to make sure you don't somehow remove the clip by mistake."

She nodded as he sat back into his desk chair and started typing and clicking away at his computer.

"Are you ready?"

Soul watched as Maka nodded her assent and Stein hit a button on his keyboard. Suddenly Maka's eyes closed and her body went limp. Her small form sagged into the chair, she almost looked comfortably asleep, if not for all the wires and straps.

All Soul could do was stand and wait in silence.

After a few moments Stein cleared his throat and Soul looked over.

"Do you want me to project her memories for you to see as well?"

Soul considered for a moment. This was something he would've liked to have known about before so he could ask Maka if that was okay. To do so now felt like an invasion on her privacy, and she'd tell him what happened afterwards anyways right?

He sighed heavily, "Better not, she has no idea what she's about to experience and I'd rather hear it from her, after she has dealt with it herself."

"Respectable. You may sit then and wait, this won't be long but here," he pulled a folding stool from beside his desk. Soul sat down and watched over Maka silently.

 _She was standing on a little foot-bridge overlooking a small stream. The sky was blue and clear, the breeze was warm, and all in all it seemed like a perfect day. She looked up the street to her left just beyond some trees and could still see her father's house. That's where she had come to stay last night since she had fled her own home and ex-fiancée. She looked down at her hands firmly wrapped around the bars of the bridge rails. Her wrists and forearms were covered in fresh bruises and she felt on the verge of tears at what had brought her here. She had always looked forward to the day she could move out of her promiscuous father's home, the chance to start anew and forget the problems she faced growing up._

 _Now here she was seeking refuge at the man's house. It was not that she didn't love her father, she just had very little respect for him and even blamed him for the departure of her mother. This bridge overlooking the little stream had been one of her favourite haunts as a younger girl. She'd stay out here for hours, writing, drawing, doing homework, reading, anything to be away from her father and his conquest of the day. She had accidentally found the trail when she explored the small cemetery down the street from her house one day as a child. She hadn't been here in years at this point, but it still looked the same and offered the same peaceful alone time she constantly needed growing up._

 _She heard light footsteps to her right from the path that led down from the cemetery. She looked over to see a young man. He looked to be about the same age as her but he had pure white hair. He was watching his feet as he shuffled up the path and hadn't seen her yet so she coughed lightly, not wanting to surprise him. He looked up and she nearly gasped when their eyes met. His eyes were a shade of deep ruby red and framed with thick pale lashes, but most strikingly they were wet and puffy, as though he'd just been crying._

" _Are-are you alright?" she heard herself say. She could've kicked herself for asking._ Of course _he would be crying, she was technically in a cemetery._

 _He sniffed and heaved a sigh as he approached the bridge. "Not really."_

 _She nodded and looked back out over the stream. "I can leave if you need to be alone."_

" _That's alright. I don't want to chase you out, just needed to get away from my family."_

" _That is something I can relate too," she replied._

" _Do you live around here?" He asked as he took up a spot against the railings a few feet away from her._

" _Yeah, if you look up that path that is pretty much the neighbourhood I grew up in. This was where I would come alone a lot to read and write and…escape."_

" _It's a nice escape, thanks for sharing," he smiled a little._

 _She gave him a small smile back. After a few moments of peaceful quiet she spoke._

" _Are you here to…visit someone?" She was careful with her words._

" _Yeah…We live on the other end of town but my grandparent's first home was not far from here so this is where my grandpa was buried… and now my grandma too…" His voice was thick with tears as he finished._

" _I'm-I'm so so sorry for your loss…uh…" she finished awkwardly, she felt bad for upsetting him and felt awkward about trying to console a crying stranger._

 _He sniffed heartily and cleared his throat. "Soul."_

" _Hmm?"_

" _My name is Soul, by the way."_

" _Oh! My name is Maka," she said extending her hand._

As their hands touched everything faded to black.

 _She came to standing at the foot-bridge again, this time it was night and the only light was coming from the street lights through the trees. She sighed heavily and sat down cross-legged with her back against the rail. She unfolded the piece of paper she had been carrying around all day to read it again._

 _She could feel the tears welling in her eyes. She wasn't just sad, she was frustrated and hurt. She had done so much and gotten so far away from the past she wanted to escape. And yet… here she was again. At the same secret spot, in the same little scrap of trees, on the outskirts of the same cemetery, hiding from the same problems, BUT with the added bonus of the shit storm caused by her choice in men. She had crumpled the note in her hands in frustration without even noticing. The stupid note was a message from the_ sonofabitch _ex-fiancée, apologizing and trying to get her back. Like hell she would let that happen. He had laid hands on her too many times, and this last time he didn't just beat her up. In his idiot drunken stupor he stumbled in wanting to have sex and she wanted no part of it. He reeked of booze and was covered in glitter and lipstick. All she could assume was that his bachelor party had gotten a little out of hand, and she was not in a place to humour his clumsy attempts at sex._

 _She said no, she said no a lot, but it didn't matter, it only took a few stern rejections before he got that hard look in his eyes and unleashed his full strength. He was surprisingly still strong in his drunken state and in her sleepy state she did not anticipate his reaction. He hit her, made sure she was in pain, had brought her down to her knees before pushing her down and climbing on top of her. He forced his way into her and took her aggressively. The memory of it still made her flinch and bring tears to her eyes._

 _How did she let things get this bad?_

 _Before she could ruminate too long however, she heard a rustling from the direction of the cemetery. She barely managed to wipe the tears off her face before a familiar face emerged from the trees separating her from the cemetery._

" _Oh!" She said in surprise._

" _Shit!" Soul cursed, he had jumped when he saw Maka. "I did not expect to bump into anyone."_

" _Me neither," she said, laughing weakly. "But you're welcome to join me. I'm just enjoying the warm night and stars…and moping a little."_

" _You sure?"_

" _Yeah why not, Soul right?" She remembered his name from the day before when she'd met him in this exact spot. They spent several hours together then, him complaining about his controlling family, her complaining about her promiscuous yet overbearing father. She found that she liked talking to him. She didn't know if she should trust him, but felt like she could. And he made her laugh in spite of her own misery. She didn't think she was going to see him again when they parted ways the day before._

" _Mhm," he said settling on the ground next to her._

 _She continued to look forward, hoping he would not notice that she had been crying._

" _What's that?" He asked, nodding at the crumpled sheet of paper in her hands._

" _Oh, nothing…" she said as she hastily folded it up and put it in her pocket._

" _I know I'm basically a stranger, but you can tell me you know. Why you're moping, it's not like I'll tell anyone. The one person I awlways confided in is well…dead."_

 _She felt the tears threaten to spill from her eyes again._

" _I was trying to hide away from this guy and…and he's still found a way to contact me…and I just want him to go away. I just want all of it to go away." At this point she couldn't hold it in anymore and the sobs just tore through her chest._

 _He shuffled a little closer to her and looked at her as if asking permission before he put an arm around her shoulders._

 _After a few minutes of letting her cry he cleared his throat, "Is-is it the guy who, is he who…is that why you've got bruises on your wrists?" He asked quietly._

 _She looked up into his face seeing only concern._

" _Yeah," she said quietly looking down again._

" _What a piece of shit," he said angrily, the hardness in his tone startling her into looking back up at him. This time he was staring straight ahead, a frown set deep on his face, and a new fire in his red eyes._

 _She laughed a little at the absurdity of this stranger, offering her comfort and feeling rage on her behalf._

" _What?" He said, an edge still in his voice._

" _Nothing, it's just I've never really talked about my…_ issues _…with anyone. People must have eventually caught on, but I never really had anyone I felt like I could tell. Now here you are, pissed off at a man you've never met on my behalf and you don't even know me."_

" _Well…I know you –ish. And I don't need to know either of you to know that domestic violence is a horrendous thing that should be punishable by death."_

 _She started to laugh again but instead more tears came pouring out, accompanied by loud violent sobs._

" _Shhhh shh, it's okay, it's okay. We won't let him find you okay?" He pulled her into his chest in an awkward sort of side hug. Then the memory faded out again._

 _She felt her consciousness floating in that weird time space gap again except this time a few memories floated by quickly, this time she saw them as if she were watching from the outside, not as if she were experiencing them again. She saw what she recalled to be the very next day when she went out to her secret spot to meet Soul again like they had agreed. She was carrying a small canvas tote. She remembered she had packed them a little lunch to make up for crying all over his shirt the night before._

 _Before she knew it that memory had floated by and she was looking down on both her and Soul in the same spot later that night. This time he was unloading all about his current miseries, what it meant that his grandma had passed away, the self-mutilating he had been engaging in recently as a means to cope with his hurt and loneliness. She remembered running her fingers along some of his scars in awe._

 _Then that was over and as another memory was floating by she felt herself being pulled into it. She was snapped into it as though it were her current reality. She was just putting her shoes on at the front door of her father's house to go meet Soul when she heard a car door slam from the driveway. She looked through the window and saw a familiar car parked at the end of the front lawn._

 _Oh no. How did he find her here? She had never brought him to meet her father before because she wanted as little to do with him as possible. She felt her heart begin to race and breathing suddenly became so much harder. Her eyes darted around, she felt panicked and then like a startled rabbit she launched herself in the other direction. She bolted through the back door and crashed over the back steps running heartily, but noisily over the wooden deck. She skidded to a stop near the fence and tried to calm herself down._

" _Maka?" The man called down the side of her house, spotting her through the gap between her father's house and that of the neighbour._

" _Fuck," she panted to herself. He started jogging over to her._

" _Maka, get the fuck over here. What the fuck are you doing? Where are you going you made me drive all the way out here and now you won't even talk to me."_

 _She couldn't respond she just shook her head._

" _Get your skinny little ass in the car right now," he said, a familiar sneer on his face as he got closer._

 _She vaulted herself over the fence having seen no alternative way out, then she_ ran.

 _She ran like her life depended on it, and in that moment it felt like it did. She ran down the parallel street towards her special hiding place. The only place she felt safe. She couldn't face him. He'd threatened her before. She remembered vividly the violent promises he made if she were to ever "rat him out" as she ran headlong down the street. She heard his feet start to slap the pavement not too far behind her._

 _She was getting close to her spot and he was still behind her. She did not want to guide him there. Not to her special place, and not where_ Soul _would be. He was amazing, and had indulged all her moping and he did not deserve to be more tangled in her tragic life. She saw the familiar footpath between the swatch of trees and kept running. Against every urge in her body she kept running. She did not want to lead him to Soul or her safe place._

 _She kept running, and was getting close to the one end of the town before it became sprawling countryside farms. Her sides and chest were starting to hurt, it burned to breathe and her head was starting to spin as she skidded to a stop on a long, high bridge. It was high enough to allow for boats and ships to pass beneath and it marked the western most border of the city. She collapsed to her knees in the middle of the bridge breathing heavily and stifling the urge to vomit. She looked from where she came, hoping to have lost the man. For a moment she didn't see him, then to her dismay, a figure rounded the bend in the road running hard, and gaining on her fast._

 _Her heart sank, she felt intense fear combined with heart breaking dismay. She had no way out. She couldn't keep running, and she didn't trust that at this point he would ever let her live in peace._

 _She felt like she was doomed to die by his hands. She used the railing on the bridge to hoist herself up. She looked over the side into the dark water beneath. She knew that it only looked smooth from above. The current below was strong, she and all her friends had been warned to stay away from this river since they were children. Not to mention the rapids that lay not far ahead. She looked into the water far below then to the right where that wretched man was closing in on her fast._ Devin. _So average at first, he had quickly become her worst nightmare._

 _She climbed onto the rail, balanced herself precariously and looked into the water again. The irony of dying by throwing herself off of a bridge was not wasted on her. All the years of finding solace and peace at her safe little bridge, only to be cornered now by her abuser at this much larger, and more deadly version of where she felt happiest. She looked over her shoulder one last time and back down at the water._

What did she have left to live for anyways. She saw only one face in her mind before she took a bracing breath and jumped.

 _The icy water hit her like a brick wall, and she was barely conscious as the current carried her away. Spots danced before her eyes as her lungs struggled to keep her alive. She could hold it no longer and as she gasped for air her lungs filled with cold water. Her vision was just turning black when she heard a large crack reverberate through the water._

The nothing. Sweet, quiet, merciful nothing.

She gasped for air as though she had just come up from being under water for a long time.

"Maka!" She opened her eyes and found Soul's crimson eyes filling her field of vision.


	11. Chapter 11

He leaned over Maka concerned about the sudden spike in her heartbeat. Not seconds later she gasped and her eyes fluttered open. She looked confused to see him. Almost too confused and he suddenly felt worried that she had forgotten him and no longer recognized who he was.

"Maka?!"

She continued to breathe heavily and looked between him and Stein, her eyes darting back and forth.

"Soul..."

He heaved a sigh of relief, she hadn't forgotten him.

Stein stood up and unhooked Maka from everything.

He offered her his arm as she carefully stood up and stepped out of the chair. She continued to stare at him with an emotion in her eyes he could not read.

"What? What's wrong Maka? What did you see?"

"I...uh...I...kn-" she managed to stutter before Stein interrupted.

"I get the impression you'll find out soon enough Mr. Evans. Now please, if you would," he said gesturing at the chair beside him.

"Is she okay?" He asked before getting into the chair.

"She'll be fine. Now come on. Tsubaki is eager to brief you both."

He hesitated to let go of Maka, but after she lowered herself onto the stool he climbed into the massive chair. He waited patiently as Stein hooked him up to all the same lines and belts as Maka. As Stein settled into his computer chair he looked over at Maka. She gave him a small smile and encouraging nod.

"I'll wait for you here okay?"

He looked down, unsure what to expect. "And three…two…o-" was all he heard of Stein's voice as the darkness overtook his consciousness.

 _His eyes snapped open and he was awake, upright, and dressed in a fancy black suit. He looked around at the sad faces of his family and their close friends. He was at his Grandmother's funeral. This was not ideal, he was pretty sure that this was the moment where he'd lost all desire to live, and as interesting as it was the first time, reliving his own suicide for the third time was not an appealing activity. He sighed and watched the funeral progress. As he was taking in the minister's readings he realized that this memory was unlike the one's he'd experienced before. Rather than watching as a third party observer, he was a direct participant. He wondered if he could change things. He tried to walk away from the funeral but his body would not move. He was actually starting to hear his former self's thoughts as they took over his own, and suddenly it was his only reality._

 _He looked over and saw his brother, mother, and father to his right standing in that order. They were all equally, if not better dressed and better pressed than him. He felt his frown deepen. How could they all just stand there looking so stoic when one of the most amazing humans to have ever lived was being lowered into the ground. The only person who's face betrayed any emotions was Wes. His normally cheerful grin gone, replaced by an expressionless mask. It was infuriating. On top of that the "friends" surrounding the casket were people that actually had very little to do with his family, other than on a professional level. Leave it to his father to even make the passing of his own mother political. Always about making a good impression among the elite music and theatre crowd._

 _They began to lower the casket into the ground and he could no longer choke back the tears. A few quiet sobs escaped him before his mother approached him from behind._

" _None of that, your father's business partners are here and he was hoping that you would make a good impression, improve their trust in your father's business by seeing his sons as strong men to eventually take over," she said in a hushed but hurried tone._

 _He glared at her with as much hatred as he could muster before he took off into the small thicket of trees beyond the row of gravestones. He did not want to be a part of the façade, he would have his own personal goodbye with his grandmother later, when all the imposters were gone. His so called family. He found himself following a little footpath among the trees as he tried to stifle the flow of tears. He had managed to sniff back the sobs and had almost re-centered himself when he emerged from the trees into a little clearing. He looked up to take in his surroundings when he realized he was not alone. He made eye contact with a young woman standing at a little footbridge on the path. She had ashy blonde hair and big green eyes that mirrored his surprise. He came to a stop a few steps away from her as she spoke._

 _"Are-are you alright?" She asked him. He could hear the honest concern in her voice. He debated whether or not to be honest for only a moment before responding._

 _"Not really," he replied hearing the resignation blatant in his voice._

 _She nodded and looked away from him, "I can leave if you need to be alone." Her voice was soft and he got the impression that she needed to be there too._

 _"That's alright. I don't want to chase you out, I just needed to get away from my family."_

 _"That is something I can relate to," she said with a dark chuckle._

 _He walked up to join her at the railing of the bridge. He hadn't really been one to socialize ever before, and it was evident to him now as he struggled for what to say next. He settled with, "Do you live around here?"_

 _"Yeah, if you look up that path that is pretty much the neighbourhood I grew up in. This was where I would come to read and write...and escape."_

 _"It's a nice escape, thanks for sharing," he offered a watery smile. She smiled back at him and he felt warmth for the first time since the last time he saw his grandmother. He watched as she stared out over the stream. He could tell by the slump of her shoulders and the dark circles under her eyes that she really was trying to escape something. Upon further inspection he noticed she had bruising on her wrists and neck. It looked like they were starting to fade, but they couldn't have been that old. He tugged his own sleeves self-consciously, hoping his own scars were not visible._

 _After a few moments she spoke quietly enough that he was leaning forward to hear, "Are you here to...visit someone?"_

" _Yeah…We live on the other end of town but my grandparent's first home was not far from here so this is where my grandpa was buried," he had to pause and try really hard not to break down crying… "and now my grandma too…" He knew how pathetic he sounded but he could barely bring himself to care._

 _He just stared at his hands, firmly wrapped around the railing, as he tried to stifle the tears before they got out of hand._

 _The woman next to him spoke hesitantly but with sincerity, "I'm-I'm so so sorry for your loss…uh…"_

 _Soul suddenly felt the urge to introduce himself to the woman next to him, seeing as he had_ _burdened her with his broken heart. He tried to clear his throat of the tears, "Soul."_

" _Hmm?"_

" _My name is Soul, by the way."_

" _Oh!" The woman sounded surprised by his sudden introduction. "My name is Maka," she continued with a smile. He reached to meet her extended hand. As their fingertips made contact everything disappeared and he was suspended in nothingness._

 _He awoke again walking down a sidewalk away from his parents' home. He had already been walking for over 20 minutes and he showed no signs of slowing down. He had initially gone to his room after supper, frustration boiling his blood, with no intention of leaving. However, thoughts of disappearing into the night consumed him and it was not long before he found himself changing into his favourite sweater, grabbing his iPod and heading out the door. His parents might scold him for being a_ hooligan _and walking the streets at night, but realistically he was in his 20's now and he felt like he had outgrown mindless obedience. There was a time where he would retreat into the darkest corners of his own mind and let his body do whatever it was his parents required him to do that day. But not lately. His feet had carried him almost across town before he realized he was headed to the cemetery where his grandmother was freshly laid to rest._

 _He pulled his sweater closer to himself and skipped through a few songs before settling on something fast-paced that appealed to his gloomier mood. It wasn't much longer before the streetlights started to get further and further apart and he was in the neighbourhood of the cemetery. He had to vault himself over the now locked gate before wandering to the freshly churned, raised mound of dirt serving as a blanket for his gran._

 _He turned off his iPod and shoved it into a pocket in his dark jeans. Without the eyes of his parents and their "friends" around he was finally able to examine the headstone and give her the goodbye she deserved._

 _It was a pillar of dark marble topped with a sombre looking angel holding a harp. In his opinion, the whole thing was not reflective of Gran's optimism and cheery disposition. She could light up a room with her laugh and make anyone smile, even on their worst days. She deserved a headstone made of sunshine and warm summer days, and while he understood the absurdity of that, he found the dark stone his parents had chosen to be even more absurd._

 _He sighed heavily, "Hey Gran. I'm sorry I bailed on your funeral. It was just …too hard. All those people who barely knew you, here acting like they gave a fuck just to rub shoulders with my idiot father. How could he have done that to you anyways? You wouldn't have wanted that.." He sat down then and leaned against the tombstone, the tips of his sneakers wedged into the dirt. He pulled his iPod out and unplugged the earbuds._

" _I would've played this for you if it were possible but this will have to do," he pressed play on his little silver iPod and let the music play softly into the night air._

 _Typically anything he composed for piano was dark, discordant even. Comparable to some of Rachmaninoff's dark creations. However, for his Gran…for his Gran he had created something happy. He tried to capture every joyous moment he spent with her, every smile they shared, every sweet treat, and every adventure._

 _And for once it didn't sound contrived._

 _At the end of the recording he turned off his iPod and stood up, dusting off his pants as he straightened up. He knew he didn't want to go home yet so he let his feet carry him through the cemetery, between the headstones. His feet led him down the path he had taken earlier when he had run away from the funeral. He was lost in thought when he emerged from the trees. Thoughts of his family were clouding his mind so much he didn't even realize someone else was there until he heard a gasp._

" _Oh!"_

" _Shit!" Soul cursed, "I did not expect to bump into anyone."_

 _He tried to slow his beating heart as he recognized the girl from earlier, Maka. Dying of fright, so_ uncool _._

" _Me neither, but you're welcome to join me. I'm just enjoying the warm night, and stars…and moping a little."_

" _You're sure?" He wanted to join her, but he didn't want to intrude either._

" _Yeah why not, Soul right?"_

" _Mhm," he acknowledged as he sat down on the ground. He noticed she was avoiding meeting his eyes. When he focused he could tell she had been crying. She clearly did not want him to catch on so he made no comment. He realized she was also holding a piece of paper. It was wrinkled tightly in her fists. "What's that?"_

" _Oh…nothing," Maka replied. Soul watched as she made to put away the piece of paper as fast as possible, as though he wouldn't notice._

 _He was oddly drawn to her, he wanted to know more about her, maybe even learn about what was bothering her. "I know I'm basically a stranger, but you can_ _tell me you know. Why you're moping, it's not like I'll tell anyone. The one person I always confided in is well…dead."_

He heard a sharp intake of breath and then she spoke. _"I was trying to hide away from this guy and…and he's still found a way to contact me…and I just want him to go away. I just want all of it to go away."_

 _And then she cried. And she cried a lot. He sympathized really, feeling alone, being betrayed by the people who are close to you..._

 _He realized that at this point someone in his current position would've offered comfort. He just didn't really know how. He settled on shuffling a little closer and awkwardly trying to decide if he should pat her back or put an arm around her. It took him a moment to settle on putting his arm around her shoulders, he looked at her with his arm somewhat raised, waiting to see if she would scootch away or give him a dirty look or something. Really he was just waiting for any indication that she wanted him to piss off. When she didn't immediately try to hit him or run away he let his arm settle loosely around her shoulders._

 _She cried into his shirt for awhile and eventually his curiosity took over his mouth and he asked, "Is-is it the_ _guy who, is he who…is that why you've got bruises on your wrists?"_

" _Yeah," she mumbled quietly._

 _If you asked him, he wouldn't really have had a logical answer but the idea of someone hurting this woman really,_ really, _infuriated. "What a piece of shit," the venom in his voice surprised even him. He stared straight ahead his teeth clenched tightly together._

 _Next to him Maka giggled a little and he looked over at her, "What?" He felt a little embarrassed but he didn't know why._

 _Then they talked for several hours. She talked about her issues, he talked about his, and… it felt really good. He'd never had anyone on the outside to talk to, someone completely removed from his family and their whole situation._

 _Morning birds were chirping when they finally decided to go their separate ways for the night. As they parted Maka insisted on bringing him lunch tomorrow to make up for staining his shirt with tears and he was happy that he could look forward to meeting her the next day. However, as he headed the opposite direction from Maka towards his house everything faded to black._

 _He was aware then, that he was floating in nothing, but then the darkness around him was illuminated as he experienced assorted memories floating by him in his conscious unconscious state. He saw in brief flashes Maka and him meeting at the same spot a handful of other times. He was really enjoying seeing brief snippets of him and Maka laughing together, and throwing rocks over the bridge into the stream. He even watched as in one of his memories he brought Maka to his grandmother's grave._

 _Suddenly he was awake again and he was at that same spot among the trees between the road and the graveyard, it shielded fairly well from passers-by, you could only really see it if you were looking. He checked his watch a little worriedly. Maka had never been late to meet him before and he was getting nervous that she might not show up. He paced a little across the bridge, worry sinking deep into his stomach like a stone. Suddenly he saw Maka, and she was running headlong towards him. He was relieved but only for a moment as she diverted course away from the bridge and down the main street running parallel to their little hiding place. She wasn't just running though, he could tell, it looked like she was running for her life. He was just walking through the trees to try and follow when he saw why she was running. A man was running behind her just as frantically but with a frown etched deeply into his features._

 _Soul stood among the trees for a moment, stunned. Was this the man she was running from when she came to her father's? It seemed like the only logical explanation. Either way he wanted to help her somehow. His resolve hardened and he pitched himself forward through the trees and ran as hard as he could. He had already lost some time and could see only her shiny hair reflecting the sun far up the street, followed by that man with some distance between them._

 _He did his best to keep up, he ran like his life depended on it, and for some reason he really felt like it did. At several points he lost sight of Maka but he was gaining on the man and trusted that he still had a visual on her. He ran for so long his lungs hurt and it felt like his feet were going to hammer straight out the bottoms of his shoes. They were nearing the end of the road before it turned into country highway, and the bridge that really distinguished between the edge of town where it turned into forests and farmland._

 _Finally he saw the man slowing and as he rounded the bend he saw something that made his heart stop and the bile rise in his stomach. Maka was balanced on the railings of the bridge. He wasn't close enough to hear what was happening between her and the man. He couldn't even clearly see her face. But it was clear what she intended to do._

" _Maka!" He tried yelling. Even at the best of times he doubted she would've heard from that distance, let alone over the sounds of the running water. It didn't help that his voice was cracked and faded because his throat was burning from the running._

 _He kept trying to move towards her but it didn't feel fast enough, and it to his dismay it wasn't._

" _No," his voice was strangled as he ran forward with one more burst of energy. He made it to where Maka's ex was standing at the bridge looking over the railing. Soul stood next to him trying to see any sign of Maka. His heart sank but he looked over at the man now surveying him._

" _Call 9-1-1," Soul said._

" _What did you see?" The man replied. "Tell me what you saw."_

" _It doesn't matter what I saw, I don't have a cell phone, call 9-1-1 now. Maka might still be alive."_

" _How do you know her?" The man said, taking a menacing step forward._

" _We're…friends," the term felt inadequate, but right. "And, I know who you are and what you did to her."_

" _What did you just say to me?" The man's face set into a frown and his fists were balled tightly at his sides._

" _Just call 9-1-1 man, what if she's still alive, we could help her? What are you waiting for?"_

" _Listen you skinny little punk, I don't have to do shit. If anything happens you know nothing, you saw nothing, you understand?"_

" _No you listen, call 9-1-1, or at least give me your phone."_

" _I'm not giving you shit, but a bloody lip," he said as he cocked his arm._

 _Soul felt fuelled by his rage and was suddenly flying at the man. He jumped into action and found himself on top of the man punching him over and over with all of his strength. He didn't know when he started screaming at the man but he realized that he had been once he stopped._

 _He had blacked out from his anger but came to straddling the now unconscious man. His face was bloody and already bruising where Soul had been hitting him. Soul looked at his own hands, some of his knuckles were broken for sure, and he felt blood trickle down his own face but he was unsure of where it was coming from. He patted down the man trying to find a cell phone with shaking hands. Then the rest of the afternoon was a blur of activity and emotion. He sat in the ambulance being treated while police interviewed him. Maka's ex on a stretcher not far from him_ , and _every emergency vehicle imaginable as emergency personnel searched the area down the river for any sign of Maka._

 _All the people that talked to him seemed to believe him and were almost sympathetic as he sat there tears and blood mixing on his face trying his best to answer their questions. He told them how he and Maka had really just met and how she told him all about her abusive ex-fiancée, and how when he saw a man chasing Maka through town he knew just who it was and tried to intercept in some way._

 _Hours later they let him go home where he cleaned himself up and tried to hide away in his room. Sometime later he received a call from the police saying they had found Maka's body washed up a few miles down the river._

 _He wanted to cry, but found he had no energy left. He briefly explained to Wes what had happened. Wes was the only one who knew that Soul had been leaving almost every day for a week to go meet his new friend. He didn't know the details but had one day cornered Soul and questioned where he had been sneaking off to at all hours of the day._

 _Wes tried to comfort him, but Soul was in no place to accept his sympathy. He just wanted to be alone. And it was while he was alone that night that his decision was made. He had intended to kill himself before he met Maka. He was thinking about it the night they buried his grandmother but had for some reason changed his mind, and he hadn't really thought of it much since then. But now he had given up. It felt like fate wanted him to be alone for some cruel unknown reason, and he decided that tonight he would let fate win. And then everything went black._

He woke up again, this time for real. And there was Maka staring at him intently from a stool by the giant chair contraption. Most importantly, there she was, very much alive.

"Holy fuck," was all that he could think to say. She gave a small laugh.

"Yeah," was all she said with a small smile still lingering on her lips.

He kept staring until Stein cleared his throat and stood up over the chair. He started unclipping and unbuckling all the things keeping Soul in the memory chair machine thing.

Soul stood up carefully and looked at Maka again. "Did you see what I saw?"

Maka opened her mouth to respond when Stein interrupted.

"Well no, she would not have seen precisely what you experienced. It is more likely that she would have seen her own perspective of the same events that transpired."

"Did you know that we already knew each other?" Soul asked incredulously.

"Well yes. People arrive here together with some past connection. For some it can be the most brief encounter, but no matter the duration of your previous encounters it always resonates deeply. Some connection was forged back then, that is why you arrived here together now," Stein said adjusting his glasses.

"But…why wouldn't you tell us?" Maka asked.

"Why would we? Wouldn't you rather see a first hand account of how you came to be here?"

Maka looked down and nodded slightly.

"Anyways, I will go inform Tsubaki that we are ready for her briefing. You can wait here, but if you value all your appendages as they are in their current state, do not touch anything," and with that Stein turned and strode across to the stairs.

They were alone in the silence of the room, neither of them sure what to say or do at this point.

"So that was…" Soul started to say, but he was at a loss for words.

"Intense…unbelievable even," Maka said, her eyes wide.

He chuckled, "Yeah, that."

"Should we compare what we saw?"

"I guess, but we probably won't have time right now if the crazy doctor is headed to get Tsubaki."

"Sure, you're right I suppose. But…did you see…me? Like did you remember meeting me, back then?"

He swallowed, "Yeah…I remembered the moment we met, I saw some of the time we spent together…I saw you die Maka."

"What?" If possible her eyes widened more.

"I was there, on the bridge."

"I didn't see you there," the words were almost a whisper.

"I was farther up the street, by quite a ways actually. I tried screaming. Oh Maka I tried to stop you I ran so hard but I-I wasn't fast enough…" He choked on the last few words. "I'm so sorry I wasn't faster Maka."

"Oh no Soul, no please don't blame yourself, that moment, it was months in the making. I'm so sorry you saw that," she replied. At this point both of their eyes were watery.

He closed the gap between them in one step and pulled her into a tight hug. He couldn't really hold back the tears at this point, but at least they rolled down his face silently this time. They were only able to stand there for a moment when they heard a little cough from by the stairs.

Soul let his arms fall from around Maka as they both turned to face the sound. It was Tsubaki who had climbed up the stairs silently and snuck up on them.

"Sorry to interrupt. Do you need a few more moments?"

Soul looked at Maka who shrugged before responding, "No that's fine. We're ready to find out what the hell is going on around here.

"Alright well if you'll just follow me to the lounge then, we can get comfortable. I've got plenty to tell you."

They both hurriedly wiped the tears off their faces and sniffled as they followed Tsubaki down the stairs. They followed her to the residence hall and through the purple door to the large lounge.

Tsubaki then waited as he and Maka settled onto one of the plush couches in the sunken centre of the room.

Once him and Maka were seated next to each other to one side of the couch Tsubaki sat to the other facing them.

"So," she started with a hesitant smile, "How was that?"

Him and Maka looked at each other before looking back at Tsubaki.

"It was certainly a surprise," Maka said. Either their trip down memory lane did not impact her as much as it did him, or she had a well-practiced poker face.

He nodded in agreement looking at Tsubaki with wide eyes. Then she launched into what felt like a three-hour explanation of the intricacies of the fall of democracy and the rise of Medusa and her militant organization, the Kishin Army. Maka nodded and hummed in all the right places in Tsubaki's story and he sat their mostly stunned. However stunned he was Maka was clearly taking it all in, and he imagined he could just hit her up for the finer points of their conversation later.

As far as what he could gather, around the time him, Maka, and the others disappeared a keen, young woman working within the government rose through the ranks. Her name was Medusa Gorgon and she managed to gather the loyalty of many individuals along the way.

The weeks leading up to the "event" the governments of the North Americas were preparing to gather at a summit that would essentially fuse the existing democracies into one large governing body. The idea was that it would make a stronger currency, better trade deals, and overall a stronger body of allies against any would be external threats. At this summit Medusa had silently, and swiftly taken control of the gathering of diplomats and leaders. She was secretly holding them all hostage at the time with her militia securing the premises from the press and other outside organizations. Unfortunately that meant that no one on the outside knew that anything was wrong at all. Stein, being the head of the Department of Science and Exploration of the US, was at that summit. He had some inkling of Medusa's sinister secret intentions and had placed a few precautionary inventions in place. When he confronted Medusa about what she was doing, she said was going to _silence_ him, but before her armed guards could make any sort of move, he triggered one of his inventions and ta-da, he was suspended in time and transported to one of his safe houses some time in the near future.

"What I don't understand is why _we're_ here," Soul said as him and Maka closed their bedroom behind them. After Tsubaki's long and elaborate explanations they decided to head to their room and take a little break before everyone returned for dinner.

"Well," Maka said as she sat heavily on their now joined beds, "His experiment was new, and untested so he was not even sure what he triggered when he initiated it. But it sounds like because he was travelling through space and time he left some sort of imprint or ripple in time behind him and that resonated out and effected random others. Tsubaki said that Stein himself wasn't sure what were the determining factors for selecting the people that ended up here."

He huffed a big sigh in response and settled on the bed facing her. He sat there studying her face. She was propping her chin up with one palm, elbow resting on one of her crossed legs, as she picked at the bedding with her free hand. They hadn't had a chance yet to really discuss their newly recalled memories. He was actually eager to compare, see if she remembered something he hadn't and vice versa.

Her eyes were cast down, green irises hidden from him by a thick line of pale lashes. What had she seen? Was it too soon to talk about it? Was she eager too? She must have felt him staring and her eyes darted up quickly to meet his.

"What?" She said.

"Well…that was all…a lot. You know?"

"Yeah, who knew hunh?" She gave him an attempt at a small smile before casting her eyes down again.

He chuckled, but was a little concerned she didn't have more to say. Normally Maka wanted to analyze everything.

"It's probably almost dinner time," she said again after a moment.

"Uh, sure yeah. We might be a little early though," he looked at the clock. It was at least another half an hour. Was she avoiding talking to him?

"Maka? You okay? We can talk about all this you know."

She looked at him, clearly distressed and holding something back. It was really strange, everything seemed fine when she was talking to Tsubaki, and even when he asked her for further explanation about the sciencey and political stuff. But now she seemed a little…withdrawn?

There was not much he could do at this point. It seemed reasonable to give it a little time for everything to sink in before he would try to get her to tell him what was wrong.

They walked the short distance to the dining area and he was surprised to find that most of the others had already gathered. They were talking amongst themselves about their assorted ventures as he and Maka settled into empty places at the table.

The chatter around him continued and started to seem like white noise as he sat there thinking about what he could've done to upset Maka. Out of the corner of his peripheral he could see her making a few comments to Tsubaki every now and then. In what felt like no time Blackstar was rolling out the food cart with Marie a few steps behind him holding a pitcher of orange juice.

It was "leftovers day" so the cart was full of several, but small portions of a variety of foods that had been prepared throughout the last week. Unfortunately there was nothing left from last night's stew so Soul took his chances with some pasta salad and a slightly wrinkled hot dog.

Partway through his anxious internal ruminating Blackstar's loud voice jarred him to reality.

"Trouble in paradise there losers? Went down memory lane and realized you guys broke up cuz this guy's got a teeny weeny or what?"

"Oh my God Blackstar," Liz said.

"What? They haven't said a word to each other once this whole time. And I mean look at the guy, thinks he's so cool but –," Blackstar was beginning to say when all of a sudden he was silent.

"Ma-Ka CHOP," Maka said all too calmly.

The calmness was alarming once you realized that she had quickly reached over and karate chopped Blackstar so hard in the head, that he was convinced that under that blue mop of hair was a dent in his head that Maka's hand would fit into perfectly.

Soul laughed pretty hard all things considered. It was also nice that he didn't have to defend himself against whatever else Blackstar was about to say.

After the commotion at the table calmed down he sent Maka a small appreciative smile, and to his relief she smiled and nodded back.

At least he knew he still had a friend…regardless of what Maka was keeping to herself. With that he decided to just ask about what was bothering her later that night when they were alone again. She'd probably appreciate the time to sort her thoughts before he asks her to share them with him.

After Patti and Blackstar fought over who should wash dishes and Tsubaki got up to do all the work anyways he found himself in the common room with Liz, Blackstar, Kidd, and Patti. Maka had gotten up to help Tsubaki and Marie and they were not done yet.

Kidd was arranging the books on one bookshelf to appear more symmetrical, Liz was painting her nails, and Patti and Blackstar were arguing over who would get to pick the movie for that night.

"I know how to decide who picks!" Patti yelled thrusting one hand straight into the air.

"In what world does a God like myself not just get to pick the movie?" Blackstar replied.

"The real world," Liz said laughing to herself.

Patti slammed something down on one of the tables around the sides of the room. It was a small table with two chairs opposite each other. "BLACKSTAR I CHALLENGE YOU! Winner of Connect 4 gets to pick the movie."

"That's pretty fair," Soul added when he saw Blackstar cross his arms over his chest sulkily.

"How is that fair," Blackstar pouted.

"Alright well it's not fair, and here's why. No one else gets the opportunity to pick, its just between you and Patti, what if I want a chance? Should we just have a tournament? I'll have you know I am a Connect 4 pro," Soul countered. His hopes were that Blackstar would not call his bluff, and just shut up and play the game with Patti quietly.

"A tournament you say?" Blackstar's eyes lit up. "An opportunity to conquer all you peasants. Sounds great."

"Nope. Nope. Just shut up Blackstar. Play with Patti, loser can pick tomorrow's movie. Quit acting like a bratty 12-year old or I will tell Stein you snuck into his lab the other day," Liz said without looking up from her nails.

The colour from Blackstar's face drained and he nodded quietly. Soul tried and failed to supress a snicker.

He sat there quietly as everyone waited for the outcome of the Connect 4 face off so they could get on with movie night. A few minutes later Tsubaki and Maka walked into the common room with a couple bowls of popcorn. Meanwhile Patti was staring Blackstar down as he deliberated his next move.

"Get on with it would ya?"

"Shut up Patti, I got this. AH HA. Bow before your God, for I have blocked your attempt at winning!" Blackstar crowed.

"You're not a God, YOU'RE A LOSER. BOOM CONNECT 4 SUCKA!" Patti said bouncing up to put one last piece in the board.

"What? How?" Blackstar looked like a stunned goldfish with his mouth flapping open and closed.

"You only saw the one option. But I had two sets lined up. Ha ha. I am the superior Connect four-er."

Everyone in the room this time let out a small laugh.

"It's about time. What movie are we watching Patti?" Kidd said from across the room where he was still organizing book shelves.

"All Dogs Go to Heaven. Everyone loves a talking dog," Patti said as she skipped over to one of the shelves crammed full of DVDs.

A collective groan from around the room arose before Liz intervened, "No Patti. You picked that last time. Can you pick something a little more age appropriate?"

"Ugh fine. Then I want a horror flick Liz, and you can't tell me no this time."

Liz blanched but didn't respond.

After several minutes of debate and hmmm-ing Patti settled on a movie called Signs that was about aliens or something. Soul was pleased when Maka settled in next to him between where Blackstar and Tsubaki were settled. To his surprise Blackstar settled with his arm around Tsubaki and she blushed a little but hit play on the movie anyways. Maka gave him a look that suggested she was just as surprised.

The movie went by without much incidence. Except maybe Liz whimpering every once in a while and Patti cackling evilly in response.

By the end of the movie Maka had nodded off on his shoulder and Liz was reduced to sitting backwards on the couch facing away from the television.

He shook Maka awake gently, "Hey Maks, bed time. Movie's over."

"Oh, I missed how it ends…" she responded groggily.

"The kid's glasses of water make the aliens melt or something." He said, although if he was entirely honest his mind had been running wild throughout the movie and he hadn't paid that much attention. He was curious about Maka's memories and why she seemed so hesitant to talk about it.

She laughed a little, "That's the highly compact and condensed version of the end I'm guessing?"

He shrugged and gave her a jagged smile.

"Alright, well you can go back to our room get ready for bed and all that. I've got a question for Tsubaki but then I'll be right there," Maka said. He wasn't sure what she had to ask Tsubaki, and he didn't like that there was something she wasn't comfortable talking to him about, but she was still smiling. And he had to trust it was going to be okay.

"Alright," he said. "See you in a few then."

He headed to their room as some of the others started leaving the lounge as well.

"You okay champ?" Liz said as the lounge door shut behind them.

"I guess so," he said. It would realistically take a long time before he could even figure out if he was okay enough to provide any sort of concise answer.

"Look, it takes a little bit to adjust to remembering everything. And stuff will still trickle in that you may not even want to remember. Oh and I wouldn't worry about what Maka is doing. Just trust the bond you have. It brought you here together after all, that shit doesn't just happen by coincidence" she said with a knowing smile as she left him alone at the door of his room. He watched as she took the few strides to her own room and skipped in with Patti following her closely.

He sighed to himself before opening his own door. He got ready as quickly as he could, he hadn't realized it until then, but he really was eager to get to bed. It had been a long and emotional sort of day. It didn't take very long to wash up and change before he found himself in their bed alone staring at the ceiling. The room was dim, he had turned off the overhead light and just left the lamp on Maka's beside table on low.

His eyes were just starting to drift shut when he heard the door click open.

He swallowed and sat up, curiosity overcoming his exhaustion. "Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey," she said as he shut the door behind her.

She took her time getting ready for bed, and when she finally returned from the bathroom she climbed into bed.

"Alright," she started. "I'm ready to talk."


	12. Chapter 12

They were both sitting now, on their shared bed facing each other. They were already in pajamas ready for sleep. Maka was sitting cross-legged holding her pillow against her chest. Soul thought she kind of looked like a little kid at a slumber party, sitting like that in the dim light from one of their bedside tables.

He was sitting cross-legged as well, shoulders hunched forward in a posture much like the one his mother was always telling him off for. He sat up a little straighter then, remembering the constant needling from his parents to keep a straight strong back, it helps with the piano playing don't you know?

The memory almost made him grumpy, then he realized that they were probably all long gone anyways so he felt a little guilty instead.

"So," Maka said.

"So," Soul replied.

"This shouldn't be awkward, I mean we've only known each other for what…like 50 years now?" She said with a smile.

If she was trying to ease the tension it worked. He laughed a little before replying.

"Technically speaking I guess," he said with a grin.

"Well, how do we start then…I guess I can say pretty confidently, that I think you were my best friend Soul. It didn't take long, but you were definitely the only person I had confided in so much back then. You knew everything; there was no one else in my life that I had spoken to about my abuse. Even when I was with Tyler –"

He cut her off then and wearing a big smirk he said, "Woah, his name was Tyler? Man Maka you should've known he was going to be a douchebag."

She laughed a little. "How did I miss _that_ particular warning flag?" She said sarcastically.

He raised his hands as if in surrender.

"As I was saying," she started again. "I hadn't even given _him_ most of the details of my childhood. And I was planning on marrying him at one point."

He nodded, encouraging her to continue. "And?" He said when she didn't do so immediately.

"Well, I just thought you should know, the fact that I told you so much, that really means something. And I know we were getting pretty close now anyways, but I just think that's important…I don't know what I'm trying to say." She stopped with a big sigh and her gaze dropped from his face to her crossed legs.

"Maka. It should go without question. But I was close to no one in the past. Even my brother was not privy to everything, and if I am being entirely honest I always resented him a little, so I never really let him see passed the…the walls or whatever. And my gran, well she was the greatest. She helped me with some of my insecurities indirectly, but I could never really share everything with her. I knew some of my thoughts and feelings would be kind of upsetting for her to hear, you know? Like with regards to my parents and stuff. She wouldn't have wanted to hear any of that. You're right, and I think I know what you're trying to say," he stopped to swallow.

He'd never been so eloquent in his life when it came to sharing his thoughts. "We got close fast back then, and even before we knew our connection in the past, we got close pretty fast now. Whatever is going on…its pretty special? You know, since neither of us had…anyone to count on. I don't know about you but I trusted no one for so long. So, yeah. Consider yourself special, nerd."

He knew sharing these thoughts wouldn't make him look very cool, but he had come to realize that with Maka, he never needed to feel cool, he felt safe enough to be himself around her.

She was smiling now, genuinely so that he could even see the smile in her eyes.

"Exactly," she responded. "So should we talk about what we remembered now?"

"Yeah go for it," he shrugged.

"Nuh-uh, I went first in the machine, you go first now."

"Naw man that doesn't count. You volunteered to go first."

"Right that means now you volunteer to go first."

"This seems more like _voluntelling_ to me _,"_ he grumbled.

She just quirked her head to the side and started humming the Jeopardy tune.

"Jeeze, okay. Well it started with my gran's funeral. I was there with my parents and brother and all these people that should not have been there. Dad's business buddies and stupid idiots that never even met her. So when I started crying my mother basically told me to man up because my dad's business partners needed to see that there would be a strong legacy behind his business, you know encourage investors and whatnot."

"That's awful!" Maka said. Her eyebrows were pulled down in a frown and she looked a little like a pouting child.

He looked down before continuing. His fingers had found a loose string on the hem of his pajama pants to fiddle with now. "So I just took off, I was too frustrated to be there in that situation and it just wasn't fair to my gran, so I bolted. And then I saw the little clump of trees followed a little footpath between them, and found you."

He looked up at her then, through thick silvery white lashes. She nodded in what she hoped was an encouraging way. She knew what happened next, but she was fascinated to know his perception of the whole thing.

"So you started talking to me and…I guess when you said you were sorry for my loss. Well, it was the only time someone had said that to me, and was actually genuine. So it just kind of broke me down… Not to mention I was so tired already. I didn't really think I was going to survive much longer to be honest…Actually… I think I might've offed myself that night if I hadn't met you."

She felt like she wasn't even breathing anymore and realized that she had been holding her breath for a few moments. "Oh." She said quietly.

"So yeah. We started chatting. I could tell you were struggling with something. And then I just felt compelled to introduce myself. So I did," he finished with a crooked smile.

She thought back to that moment when they shook hands and realized, that was when the memory ended for her. "What happened after we shook hands?"

He shrugged, "Dunno, that's where it ended for me."

"Odd," she said quietly.

"What?"

"That's where it ended for me too. I wonder what else happened that night."

"Oh. Yeah, weird," he said. He hadn't given it much thought.

"Well, what else do you remember?" She asked.

"Oh no, nope. Your turn to go pal. What did you remember about that day?"

"Uhm, well I hadn't been at my father's long at that point. So he hadn't driven me completely crazy yet. But I had gotten up early to check out that spot. It had been years since I'd hid out there but I wanted to see if it was still the same. And it was always so pretty in the morning. The stream would look kind of sparkly in the light and the birds would still be all chirpy. So yeah that's why I was there then. Everything was the same for me as you remembered. Oh except I remember thinking your eyes, they were so mesmerizing. The red seemed extra bright from the morning sun and I had never seen red eyes on a person before."

He reached behind his head to scratch his neck, the movement was to distract from his embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah, I look like a demon monster kid. I've heard." He knew he sounded morose, but it was hard to disguise it. As a kid he often felt out of place or down because people were frightened by his slightly demonic appearance. And Maka…she felt like the exception for a while, but she was finally letting on that she was as freaked out by him as anyone else had been.

"Not at all! I mean I guess if someone described those features it could sound demonic…but if somebody saw you they wouldn't think so."

"I don't think so. Tons of people have been freaked out. Heck moms hustled their kids passed me on busses. I've honestly learned to roll with it. It makes it easy to avoid people."

"Soul seriously. Want to know the first thing I noticed?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged.

"You looked so profoundly…sad. It was in the slump of your shoulders, the heavy shuffle of your feet…but mostly, your eyes Soul. They looked so deep and troubled. They were like…Well I don't know but… you...definitely not demonic."

He felt his mouth pull up into a smile. "Well…you're the only one to think so…but I really appreciate you saying that."

She gave him a big smile back before her eyes narrowed into a glare. "Now, what else did you remember?"

"Uhm, well later that night I was at home feeling restless so I left my parents place and was kind of drawn to my Gran's grave. When I got there I played her a recording of the song I wrote for her. Then eventually I wandered back to the place where I met you. And there you were again."

"Right, I remembered that one too. You had scared the hell out of me, just turning up in the middle of the night, silent like a creep," she said.

"Hey now, I was plenty noisy trying to not to trip in the dark. You were just really caught up reading something."

"Oh yeah." She thought about the note, still crumpled up in her pocket the day she landed in the present.

"Then we just stayed up most of the night talking. You were a little weepy but I remember we had some laughs too," he added.

She recalled crying a lot, ruining his shirt, and then feeling guilty about it. Then she remembered he made her laugh and she decided then to meet him the next day.

"Yeah, then I said I'd make you lunch the next day to make up for getting tears all over your shirt," she chuckled.

"You know, I didn't need you to make up for anything, I just liked that you wanted to hang out again."

"Oh no no no, I merely felt obligated, I didn't want to hang out with a creepy demon boy," she said with an exaggerated drawl.

"Are you making fun of me?" He asked with narrowed eyes, he tried to suppress the grin he knew was making its way to his face.

"May-be," she drawled out again.

"If you want demon I can show you." He stood up then to his full height on the bed towering over her. As she went to make a move he quickly pulled the pillow from her arms and bopped her over the head with it. Then he jumped off the bed and rolled out of reach.

When he righted himself again he found Maka was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit," he mumbled.

From right behind his right shoulder he heard an evil little giggle before he was accosted.

"Ma-ka CHOP." Was his only warning before he found himself nursing a sore spot on the back of his head.

"How do you ALWAYS have a giant fucking book on hand?! Where do you even hide those things."

"I'll never tell," she said smirking as she returned to the bed, the book already tucked somewhere out of his sight. "Now, back to business," she said patting his spot on the bed.

He settled back into his seat and glared at her.

"Come one Soul, it's getting late."

"Well, there were a couple of other memories that I didn't like…relive? But I saw them brush by and then they were just back in my consciousness. I know we hung out a few more times. We just kept meeting at the cemetery. I showed you my Gran's grave and we went for walks through the tombstones. I remember now, one night we went through and made up back-stories for some of the names on the headstones. That was pretty fun." The more he talked about those memories the clearer they became.

"Oh yeah…Now that you say that, I remember that too. It was a really beautiful night out. We got chased out of our spot by an angry raccoon, that's how we ended up wandering the actual graveyard…"

He blushed then remembering more details about that night. He remembered there was a point she tripped over a particularly low stone and in his hurry to help her up he almost fell over too. They stood up practically nose-to-nose and he had wanted to kiss her…But he reminded himself of why she was there with him in the first place and decided not to. Having recently broken an engagement with an abusive man, she probably didn't have her the best feelings towards men or romance in general.

He shook off the memory and laughed along with her about the fat raccoon that had in fact literally chased them away from the stream.

"Did that happen to you too? Less immersive memories?" He asked hoping to change the subject before she could remember more details about that night.

"Yeah, now that you mention it I do know what you're talking about. Although I did have one more big memory."

"Me too. It was that last day in the past," he said quietly.

"I don't really want to talk about that one," Maka added. "We both know how it ended, that is all that matters I guess."

He nodded and was about to agree when he felt compelled to ask her one more question, "Why didn't you just run down to meet me? I would have helped you if he tried to start anything."

"I…I didn't think it was fair to burden you with anymore of my problems. It was a really hard but impulsive choice that I made, it took everything I had to run _away_ from you. But I just pictured how awful I'd feel if he hurt you too."

He picked up her pillow again and bopped her on the head, less roughly this time. "Idiot, I would have gladly taken a beating if that's what it would have taken to get him to fuck off."

"I know, that's why I would've felt bad leading him to you."

"You know Maka, as soon as I realized you were being chased I ran after you guys. You had too much of a head start and I was way too late catching up, but I tried so hard."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking as though she may cry.

"On the other hand," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "When I finally did catch up I beat the shit out of _Tyler_ ," he drawled out the name with as much disdain as possible in his voice.

"Really?" She said with a bit of an evil smile.

"Yup, they had to take him to the hospital, in an ambulance, on a stretcher." He said proudly.

He knew violence to counter violence was ultimately wrong, and accomplished nothing in the long run, but he was proud of punching that guys face in, and it was pretty cathartic if he was being entirely honest. If nothing else, Maka at least deserved to know that Tyler got at least a little of the punishment he deserved.

She was smiling brightly as she responded, "That is quite the silver lining. It probably shouldn't, but that makes me pretty happy."

She felt her smile falter as she remembered that moment she chose to jump off the bridge. She remembered the fall lasting an uncomfortably long time, and yet feeling like she could finally stop running. The only time she felt regret was as she entered the water. The cold waves hit her like cement and the last thing she remembered was seeing Soul's face flash behind her closed eyelids as her last breaths were ripped from her lungs. The only regret she felt was not getting the chance to know him better, regret that she wouldn't get to see where things were going. Largely she thought she would never be able to trust men again, given what she had seen from her father, and what she had experienced personally with Tyler. However, she felt some of those fears fall away as she got to spend more time with Soul.

"Maka?" She heard someone say as if from a distance. She realized that her eyes had gone out of focus and she had lost sense of where she actually was. "Makaaaa…"

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder giving her a gentle shake.

She blinked her eyes back into focus and found Soul leaning forward and looking at her with a worried crease between his eyes.

"Yeah?" She said realizing she had spaced out.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about what it felt like to die."

"Shit," Soul said with a sigh as he leaned back into his usual slouch.

She laughed a little, "Sounds heavier than it was. It just puts things into perspective…I can appreciate more that I am here now with you…you know?"

He gave her a pointy lopsided grin and a nod. Obviously if anyone understood the feeling it would be Soul. She shook her head to clear away thoughts of death and looked at Soul. "Anything else important you think you remembered?"

"Not really, just that last day…you died…I beat a guy up… _I died_. Then bam fifty years later."

"Always so eloquent," she said with a giggle.

"Hey, I always just used music to express myself. Us brooding musicians don't have use for such mundane things as _words_."

"And yet, I have never heard you play!" She said indignantly.

"Well for starters we have yet to come across as piano, also we haven't really been here that long, and lastly, you likely never will," he said as he ticked them off on his fingers.

"Why wouldn't I ever hear you play?" She said as she pulled the covers up and started trying to get comfortable.

"Most people don't really get it…at least not when I play my own compositions. I could play you something else I guess. Mozart or Chopin, something more recognizable," he replied as he mirrored her actions and climbed into his own side of the bed.

"We'll find a way. And when we do I _will_ want to hear some Soul originals." Maka turned off her bedside lamp and Soul did the same.

There was a dim glow from the alarm clock on Maka's bedside and nothing but quiet as they both laid there in contemplative silence.

Soul barely broke the silence, his voice just above a whisper, "Maka, you know how normally when we get into bed you're really cold?"

"Yeah?"

"Well tonight, I'M REALLY COLD!" He said as he wedged his icicle toes against the backs of her knees.

"GOD DAMN IT SOUL."

He started laughing obnoxiously as she started playfully kicking at him. Admittedly she was using a liiiiittle more force than necessary, but he wouldn't admit that he could already feel the bruises forming. Which would have been fine until she kicked a little too high for comfort.

"Whoa, whoa Maka, I give. You almost kicked me where it counts."

"Good," she said with a pout as she rolled onto her side away from him.

"Don't be mad Maks, its only fair."

"Hmph," was her only reply.

He sidled up behind her and poked her in the cheek, "Don't pout you big baby. I will be all warm and space heater-like in no time, you'll be able to steal my body heat again soon."

"Fine," she said grumpily. He took it as permission to snuggle up close behind her. And as promised it took him no time to get warm and fall into a comfortable sleep.

It took Maka a little longer to fall asleep, her thoughts still circling through her memories on repeat, hoping to remember more of the in between time she had spent at her father's house. However, Soul's deep, slow breaths and radiating warmth lulled her into sleep eventually. And for the first time in a while, she was not woken by her nightmares.

"WAKE UP NERDS!"

Soul and Maka were both jolted awake by a pounding at their door.

"What the fuck man!" Soul yelled back through the closed door.

"I get to train you guys today so I need you to be up, well fed and ready to go ASAP dude," Blackstar's jarring voice countered.

Soul looked at Maka with concern, "Training? With that lunatic? No thanks."

She giggled but responded to Blackstar, "We're up, go away so we can get ready."

They heard his cackle grow fainter as he retreated back down the hall.

"You just doomed us to a day with that tool," Soul grumbled as he slid out of bed.

"It was bound to happen eventually," she replied grabbing her shower caddy and a towel.

Soul found himself ready before Maka even returned from the showers so he headed towards the dining area on his own. It was a little uncomfortable, the idea of dealing with these people without Maka as back-up, but she was right, eventually they'd be spending a lot of their time with all the people at the underground hideout so onwards he trudged.

"Good morning Soul," Marie said with a smile as he settled at the table. He had already grabbed some toast and scrambled eggs from the cart before he sat down.

"Morning," he said trying to muster more than a grunt. Mornings were his least favourite, and when he felt the least human. He could admit to being grumpy in the morning, but Marie was always like a ray of sunshine and he did not want to be the one to bring her down. Kidd and the twins were already seated at the table munching away. Although, they were interesting to watch. Patti was hunched over her food as she shoveled eggs into her mouth, as if she were trying to protect it. Kidd was alternating taking bites from various sides of his plate, to maintain symmetry he assumed. And Liz was fixing her hair in her reflection in her spoon.

Tsubaki and Blackstar were standing some distance from the table talking animatedly to each other. It looked a little like an argument, but he couldn't imagine Tsubaki actually being mean to anyone, presumably if it were an argument it was guaranteed Blackstar was in the wrong.

He continued to eat his breakfast in silence, unsure of how to connect with the strangers surrounding him.

"So," said Tsubaki as she and Blackstar came to join them at the table. "We were thinking that after supper tonight we could go to the basketball court and play a little. Since we're all on the same team, we might as well have some fun! And practice working together of course."

Soul swallowed his mouthful of toast before responding, "Uh sure, I'll let Maka know."

"Where's that chirpy little broad anyways?" Blackstar chimed in while shoveling to eggs into his loud mouth.

"She was still getting ready when I left, should be here any second though…"

As if on cue Maka came out the residents' hall with her hair drip drying onto her shoulders. She was however, dressed for the supposed training they were about to receive. She was wearing shiny black, skin-tight pants, and one of those weird women's fitness tops that are half shirt and half sports bra. She looked ready to run a marathon, and he'd already seen proof that she could. He made a little space on the bench next to himself so she could sit down with her breakfast.

"Morning!" She said brightly as she spread jam on her toast.

Soul nodded and filled Maka in, "Tsubaki suggested we play some basketball tonight after dinner. Some bonding time activity."

Maka quirked an eyebrow, "Where would we even play?"

It had never occurred to ask where the basketball court actually was.

Kidd broke his silent plate arranging to respond, "There is a full size basketball court down here in the compound. Basketball courts offer beautiful symmetry."

"Okay you lunatic, enough with the symmetry. You guys actually haven't seen even half of what this place has to offer. There's a pool down here too," Liz said.

"Cool!" Maka said. "I'm down for some basketball."

"But first we train! The sooner you finish stuffing your face the sooner I can kick your asses," Blackstar said slamming the table with his palms.

There was collective eye rolling from the table as everyone finished their meal and piled their dishes back on the cart.

After a few more minutes of idle conversation everyone had finished their breakfasts. Marie pushed the cart back to wherever it came from, Liz slowly following to help with the dishes.

Soul and Maka went back to their room to have a bit of a breather before going to get their "asses kicked".

"What do you think training is going to be like?" Soul asked as him and Maka pushed into their room.

"Probably obnoxious, but who knows, maybe the kid is a great assassin or something."

She perched in front of the mirror to check her teeth for food before tying her hair up into twin pigtails.

"Battle ready?" he said with a chuckle.

"You should get up and dress in battle appropriate gear too you know. Skinny jeans and a hoodie? Not ideal."

He rolled his eyes but got up to comply.

Several minutes later they were waiting for Blackstar in the training area across the room from the dining table. They had just gotten bored of waiting and were about to leave when a blur landed in the space in front of them with a light thud.

"Where do you noobs think you're going?" The aforementioned blur said loudly.

"Oh, Blackstar, we didn't think you were coming," Maka said with crossed arms. She looked a little taken aback from his entrance.

"Where did you come from?" Soul asked.

"I was waiting in hiding until you losers gave up. It's to test your patience and stamina. You didn't do as badly as I thought."

Soul stared at the blue haired man blankly. "Do we really have to do this?"

Blackstar stared him down. "Yes. And I imagine one day soon you'll be glad you did. Now get ready."

Several hours had passed and Soul was EXHAUSTED. Maka did substantially better than him in almost every way with the training, including resisting the urge to give up and lay down. An urge that five hours into the training, he did not resist.

"Come one nerd get up, we're done for today anyways. You didn't do too badly, you don't compare to me in any way yet. But you aren't an embarrassment. Maka, you were even less of an embarrassment than your pale little boyfriend here. Did you have previous training?"

"A little," she shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. Soul however, could tell that the compliment was making her glow. She did have a bit of an over-achiever vibe.

"Alright, so today we covered some basic material. We will continue to refine these basic skills and then build speed and strength behind attack and evasion. Very soon you will at least have enough skills to come out for basic raids."

"What kind of raids?" Maka asked.

"We are all wanted, and it is impossible to know who is loyal to Medusa, or at the very least within her payroll, so we can't just go grocery shopping, or clothes shopping, or do any sort of supply trips without it being a silent break and enter. We do our best to be invisible and leave no damage or even visible evidence that we ever entered any of the establishments we have to steal from. We also disable some of Medusa's smaller operations, take out some of her known henchman and bases, gather intelligence for Marie and Dr. Stein."

"How do they know who we are?" Soul asked.

"Are these operations dangerous?" Maka chimed in.

"Medusa has her ways. On top of that she looked into all mysterious disappearances from the time where we all came. On top of _that_ you compromised yourselves when you were on the surface did you not? And consequently you were targeted. She has eyes everywhere and if she didn't know who you were before, she does now. And to answer your question Maka, the sloppier we are, the more dangerous these missions become. So taking this training seriously is essential to our survival. Understood?"

They both nodded in response to Blackstar's little speech. They had never seen him so serious before and it was a little alarming. Suddenly the serious set to his face was cracked open by a large grin.

"Now! Rest up, eat up, and prepare for when you get your asses handed to you in basketball after dinner!" He shouted as he bounced away.

"Ughhhh, how does he always have so much damn energy, and why is he obsessed with our asses!" Soul groaned as him and Maka slowly dragged their feet in the direction of the dorms.

"Maybe he gets it from his hair," Maka giggled.

"I'm thirsty, can you take me to the kitchen Maka? I want water but I've never been there before."

"Sure let's go."

Maka led him passed the dining table, into a door and down a hall. They passed a few nondescript doors before arriving at a twin set of aluminum push doors. Maka pushed them open to reveal a large spotless kitchen. The kind you'd find in a restaurant. She pointed to a cupboard to the right of a large stainless steel sink where he found glasses.

A few minutes later he was watered and collapsed on their bedroom floor. He was spread out with his eyes closed and the empty glass next to his head.

"You just going to stay here?" Maka said leaning forward to hover over his face.

He squinted up at her, her head only doing an okay job at blocking the ceiling light glare from his eyes.

"Probably," he said with a little chuckle. "What are you gonna do?"

"I think I am going to try to take a bath, the hot water should make this hurt less tomorrow," she said smiling. "You should try it too!"

"I'm good Maks, have a nice bath though."

He closed his eyes but heard her rummaging around the room for a few minutes before leaving. He figured he had at least a few minutes of time to squeeze in a nap before he'd have to get ready for dinner, and a humiliating game of basketball. With a hefty sigh he dozed off spread out on floor.


	13. Chapter 13

Maka found herself alone in the showers. Which was nice, she didn't want anyone to see just how exhausted she was from Blackstar's training. She took pride in being the best, acing tests, winning games, excelling physically and academically. And training under Blackstar was no exception, his cocky attitude also made her want to crush any doubts he may have had about her abilities. She turned the water to be fairly hot so as to encourage her muscles not to be too tense or sore from the training. She flexed and relaxed various muscles and watched the water roll off her small, but mighty muscles. She knew she was strong, but she was never able to overcome her demons, all she had ever done was run from them. Successfully for the most part, minus the bittersweet end.

Why did she never fight Tyler back? Come to think of it why did she never fight off her back alley attacker? Soul ran to her rescue, and thankfully so, but what kept her from fighting back? Full out brawling with her fiancée wasn't ideal either, but why did she always just take the beatings? Questions for a psychologist no doubt. Maybe she could ask Dr. Stein? They really should learn more about that mad man, she'd have to tell Soul that. She continued to muse to herself as she lathered up the sweet smelling soap on her body.

She crossed the hall wrapped up in a fluffy towel, steam still rising off of her skin and knocked on her shared bedroom door. "Soul?" There was no answer, but she didn't want to stand mostly nude in the hallway for much longer. "Well, you better be decent I'm coming in," she called as she shouldered open the door. "Oh!" She exclaimed, Soul was still spread out on the floor, eyes closed. For a moment she was concerned, then the silence was interrupted by one small snore. She giggled and quietly shut the door behind her trying not to wake him up, _or_ drop her toiletries, _or_ her towel. Thankfully he was still sound asleep and was not privy to her struggles with entering the room. She unloaded her caddy onto the counter by the vanity and went to the dresser to pick out some clothes. She figured something comfortable would still be ideal, since they still had a game of basketball to play later that evening. She pulled the room divider from against the wall to get dressed behind. She was annoyed that she hadn't noticed it the last time she wanted to get dressed while Soul was napping, but she was grateful to find it now. After getting dressed she checked the time on their digital clock, it was almost dinner and Soul had yet to wash up. She squatted on the floor next to his head and gently shook his shoulder. "Sooouuulllll, nap time is over." His eyes blinked open.

"Maka? How did you get ready so fast? Your showers normally seem to take forever."

"Jeeze, awake for three seconds and you're already judging! Besides, I've got poise I've got grace et cetera is how I am ready so fast."

"More like she makes noise, she's disgrace!" He said laughing as he stood up and stretched.

"Excuse me?" Maka said haughtily.

"Your shirt is inside out Miss Universe," he replied, still chuckling.

She felt the heat of her blush rise to her cheeks. She took a few calming breaths so as to not get angry and yell at Soul for something that really wasn't a big deal…

"Yeah yeah, just go hit the showers so I can fix my shirt chuckles," she said cavalierly trying to overcome her embarrassment.

She saw him bite back a smile as he gathered his shower things. "I'll be back in five, so don't procrastinate fixing your shirt, nerd." And then the door snapped shut behind him.

Maka couldn't find it in herself to be offended at his silly nickname for her anymore. She was actually starting to like it. She quickly flipped her shirt and waited for Soul to finish so they could head over to dinner together.

Soul did his best to wash up quickly so that he wouldn't hold Maka up from dinner. They had made it on time and enjoyed twice-baked potatoes and Cesar salad for dinner. He found himself actually enjoying the dinner conversation too. Now that he had gotten the rhythm of the group's dynamic he found he could chime in and have fun with his new found (albeit forced) friends. With the wrapping up of dinner and chores came the _fun_. Almost immediately Blackstar began yelling about the crushing defeat anyone on the opposing team would face, his godlike stature, etc. etc. Blackstar led them all through some hallways leading away from the large central room to a large gymnasium with perfectly polished floors. At each end were tall basketball hoops and the floors were marked in the various lines typical of a court used for multiple sports.

"Whoa, all this underground?" Maka said from behind him. _No kidding_ , he thought.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg you know," Liz said, not looking up from the examining of her fingernails. "This is just the top of what is very much like an anthill."

"Alright dweebs, I'm team captain for team number one, obviously the team that will win. Who want's to be team captain number two, obviously the team that will lose."

He looked over to see Blackstar spinning a basketball between his palms.

"I'll be team captain," Maka said with a smirk.

"Jeeze Maka, I know you're an over achiever with book stuff, but you're competitive too? You're smarter than being baited by this mouthpiece aren't you?" Soul said, wondering why Maka was pitting herself against the loudest human he had ever met…ever.

She looked over at him with a fierce glint in her eyes. "If you don't get on this level, I won't pick you for my team pal."

He rolled his eyes in response and just waited for the teams to be formed.

"Rock, paper, scissors for who picks first," Maka said as she held out a palm.

"One…two…three!" Blackstar shouted slamming a fist into his palm to indicate he had chosen rock.

"Sucker! I knew you'd pick the most aggressive one so I picked paper! The most useful one."

"Competitive Maka is a pain in the ass…"Soul grumbled.

"Maaa-kaaa CHOP."

And suddenly he was trying to dislodge a textbook from the back of his head. Maka loomed over him and pried it from his hands. "Watch yourself. You just got yourself out of being picked first by me, _now_ you might end up on his team. Good luck."

And somehow the book was nowhere to be seen.

He was rubbing the sore spot on his skull and picking himself back up again. "Did ANYONE happen to see where she stashes that damn book," he asked while looking around at the group.

Everyone shook their heads while barely suppressing their smiles. Except Blackstar, who was openly mocking him for getting beat up by a girl.

"Alright enough messing around, I choose…Kidd, you're on my team!"

"Alright I want Tsubaki!" Countered Blackstar.

"Liz!"

"Oh no honey, I just did my nails, I'll sit this game out. I'll ref," Liz responded.

"Fine…I guess I will take Soul," Maka said grumpily.

"Patti, that means you're with us," Blackstar said.

So the teams consisted of Maka, Kidd, and Soul playing against Blackstar, Tsubaki, and Patti.

"Maka, your team can be skins, you're too flat for it to matter if you're topless," Blackstar said snickering.

It was almost like Soul could smell a storm brewing, some violent natural disaster, like a tornado, except it was Maka.

"Maka…you okay?" Soul asked tentatively. She was practically vibrating.

"I will be, when we kick his loud, obnoxious, stupid face in…ALRIGHT LET'S PLAY SOME BASKETBALL!"

And so the game began. Maka and Kidd made an amazing team and made some quick work out of several baskets right away. They responded to each other silently and seamlessly on the court. Seeing it gave Soul both a sense of wonder and a knot in his throat that made it hard to swallow. Jealousy or anxiety he could not tell, but they were interesting to watch. Unfortunately for Maka, Tsubaki and Blackstar made an equally smooth team. For every basket Maka or Kidd scored, Blackstar and Tsubaki would closely follow with one of their own. Patti was only a slight hindrance, blocking the wrong person on occasion, she even shot on the wrong basket at least twice! Soul realized he could be the deciding factor in who won the game. He was capable _enough_ that he could probably be an asset to the team, but he was nervous to get in the way of the rhythm that Kidd and Maka had created for themselves…

"Get your head in the game Evans!" Maka said as she wailed the ball at him from across the court. His mind had just been made up for him.

By the second half of the game he was sweating and had exerted much more energy than he was typically willing to put forth. His apathetic approach to life was fading in the presence of Maka just a little more everyday.

If he thought Maka and Kidd were a force to be reckoned with, than he imagined seeing the three of them working together was even more intimidating. This was obvious, as the scowl on Blackstar's face grew deeper and deeper. About an hour and a half after they started, things took a turn for the violent, and fouls were being called rather frequently. However, Liz was rarely actually paying attention so when any player felt as though they had been fouled against they would just yell in futile frustration in Liz's direction and she would wave a dismissive hand while not looking up from her magazine.

It got to the point where Blackstar clotheslined Maka and she flew backwards from the net landing firmly on her hindquarters.

"Alright alright, we're done here," Soul said stepping in before Maka could permanently lodge her secret book into Blackstar's brain.

"Says who?!" Blackstar crowed. "We can still crush you guys, we are only six points behind you can't just end the game before we win."

"No, we're done here Blackstar," Kidd said already lowering himself onto a bench around the side of the gym.

"It is probably a good idea to stop before someone dies," Tsubaki said with a smile.

"Fine," Blackstar grumbled. "But I'll get you next time pigtails."

Maka had a triumphant smile plastered to her face, "We'll see loser."

They all collapsed into assorted places around the gym trying to recover a little from the intense (yet supposedly friendly) game as Marie came around with a tray covered in glasses and a pitcher of water.

After a few weak thank yous Marie left and they all started to regain some of their energy.

"Let's wash up and watch a movie?" Liz suggested.

Everyone agreed and started to pick themselves up from their point of collapse and filed out of the gym, down the hall, and towards the bedrooms.

"And before anyone even starts this fight, let's agree to let Maka pick the movie since her team won," Tsubaki said with as much sternness as she could muster.

"Awwww, but she's a nerd, she will just pick a documentary or something boring," Blackstar whined.

"And you'd just pick an action flick, and Patti would just pick a movie with talking animals, and Liz would just pick a chick flick et cetera et cetera," Kidd said. "We all have preferences, that's why we are taking turns, so quit your whining, you sore loser."

Soul suppressed the bark of laughter threatening to escape as he noted the enraged expression on Blackstar's face.

As they reached the dorm hallway they all peeled off to their separate rooms to grab their belongings before hitting the showers. A short time later they were all seated around the large plush couch waiting for Maka to decide on a movie.

Maka was obviously trying to pick a movie that everyone could enjoy but that proved to be impossible as choice after choice was shut down.

"Don't worry about what anyone else wants Maks, just pick a damn movie."

She threw him a glare before continuing to peruse the extensive movie collection.

"Aha!" she yelled happily pulling a case from the shelf. "Everyone likes Harry Potter, and anyone who doesn't should just keep their mouths shut so they don't lose my respect."

"You would be into Harry Potter," Soul said snickering as she settled onto the couch next to him.

"Are you not?" Maka said looking at him with genuine concern. He briefly recalled a similar conversation they had during one of their long nights chatting in the cemetery so long ago.

"I didn't say that! It just figures that you would be," he said, still laughing a little.

"Just hush you," she said with a pout.

Surprisingly everyone did like Harry Potter as a choice, _or_ they took Maka's threat to heart, either way, it meant that everyone watched the movie peacefully. Well… for the most part anyways, Liz still had to turn away from the final scenes when Voldemort made his appearance. Apparently even those proved to be too much for her.

Soul almost didn't want the movie to end he felt so at peace surrounded by his new friends with Maka leaning into his side, eyes glued to the screen. As the credits were rolling everyone got up and started milling to their rooms among groggy calls of goodnight to one another. Soon it was just him and Maka left to shut things down in the lounge. Maka stood up and stretched as he turned off the television.

"Sooooouuuuul, I'm so tired carry me home!" She collapsed back into the couch.

"You mean literally across the hall?"

"Yes," she pouted.

"You're that tired?" he said, disbelief colouring his tone.

"Yes!"

"So I could just leave you here and you won't move, then I could take up the whole bed?" He teased leaning over her.

She glared up at him from her spot on the couch.

"Come on I'll help you up," he said holding a hand out for her. She rolled her eyes but grabbed on to his hand and accepted the boost upright.

"Can I trust you Soul?" She said with sudden seriousness.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Okay…Trust fall!" She said as she went limp and fell forwards into his chest.

"Ah shit!" He said arms flying up to keep her from hitting the ground.

"Aw, so trustworthy," she said, a mischievous glint to her eyes. "Since we're already here…why not carry your fearless leader to bed? She worked hard to lead us to victory today you know."

He rolled his eyes but adjusted her small form so he could carry her across the hall.

The challenge proved to be hitting the light switch on the way out of the lounge. Thankfully he was able to hit it with an elbow, narrowly avoiding smashing Maka's head into the doorframe.

"Hey man, this is not a dangerous mission, try not to kill me."

"It is not remotely a mission at all, its you being a lazy twit," he said tossing her onto the bed.

"Hey! Could stand to be more gentle don't you think?"

"Would that I could Maks," he said with a grin as he turned on the bedside lamp and turned off the overhead light.

He crawled into his side of the bed and sighed contentedly into his plush pillow. Maka wasn't wrong to be tired, it was a pretty high exertion kind of day. He couldn't even bring himself move once he had settled.

"Ugh, the lamp is on, but I am so comfy," he whined.

Maka giggled. "I'll get it this time, but you owe me," she said as she reached across him and turned off the lamp.

He expected her to roll back to her side of the bed after hitting the light, but he was pleasantly surprised when she skipped the bedtime shenanigans to cuddle against his side.

"Owe you?" He said, grateful the light wouldn't expose his stupid smile. "I literally carried you here."

"That's different," she replied through a large yawn.

"Is it though?" He said mirroring her yawn.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"How so?" he challenged.

"Well…you see…" she started before falling silent.

"Maka?" he said quietly when she didn't continue.

"Hmm?" she said sleepily.

"You were about to try to make a point?"

Her response came in the form of the deep steady breathing of sleep.

"Goodnight Maka," he whispered before snuggling deeper into his pillow and following suit.

For the next few weeks he found himself settling into their routine really well. Him and Maka would get up every morning, head down for breakfast, train with Blackstar, and carry on. Some days Tsubaki would talk to them about current events, keep them updated, or even go over some of the finer points of the history they missed when travelling through time. Some days they would play basketball, or other sports to kill time in the evenings.

Today however, Soul found himself awake before their alarm and unable to fall back asleep. Today he would be going on his first mission outside of the underground compound. Maka was pretty furious that she couldn't go with him. But it was a small stealth operation to just lift some supplies from a shop in preparation of the larger end goal of bringing down the currently reigning regime. Blackstar had picked him as his partner for this mission, citing his ability to silently "creep around like a weirdo" as an asset for this particular job.

Maka rolled over and looked at him, "You're up early." She reached over him to turn the alarm off before it could ring in three minutes.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"Nervous?" she inquired.

"I don't know. It'll be kind of weird you know, leaving here without you?"

"It shouldn't be for more than like…two hours," she said patting his arm.

He knew he wasn't scared, and realistically he knew Maka would be safer at their headquarters anyways. But it was hard to imagine doing anything important without Maka as his partner. Also, he hadn't left the compound since they arrived five weeks prior.

"Yeah, you're right. It'll be nothing. We'll grab the supplies we need from the general store, come right back, and fight with Patti over picking a movie blah blah blah."

"Exactly! Now get up and get ready you have a briefing with Marie and Blackstar after breakfast and then we've got more training before you and Blackstar head out."

They weren't leaving to do the job until well into the night. They had to make sure everything was quiet and empty so they could go and return undetected. That meant they still had a full day of training and activities planned and he needed to get ready.

Maka skipped off to the showers and he was quick to follow suit. He shouldered his way into the bathroom only to be greeted by Blackstar loudly.

"DUDE, WHY ARE YOU NAKED?" Soul said clinging to the wall behind him trying to create as much space between him and Blackstar's nude form as possible.

"Well, I'm about to shower so it helps to be naked dumbass."

"Why are you assaulting me naked at the door?!"

"Well I'm just excited about taking you on your first mission. It's a pretty easy one, but it is also important so…what's not to be excited about?"

Soul chuckled despite his discomfort. "Okay man I get it, now hide your junk and get in the shower I think I've seen enough."

"Don't feel inadequate Soul, it's not always the size of the boat, it's also the motion of the ocean dude. Some people are blessed with both mind you…" Blackstar said as he turned around and headed for the showers.

"I sincerely wish I could unsee, and unhear ALL of that Star," Soul mumbled as he followed him to the shower stalls.

The rest of the day flew passed in a bit of a blur and in no time he found himself briefed, and waiting at the exit of the compound next to Blackstar.

They came up through the trap door under the desk in the back of Tom's pub. They arranged the room to look as though they had never been through and then Blackstar undid all the locks on the door to the alley.

Suddenly Soul's face was graced with a cool, fresh breeze.

"Wow," he whispered. "I didn't realize I missed being outside." He added quietly to Blackstar as he followed him out the door.

"Right? Headquarters is great and it has everything, but I miss freedom," Blackstar said quietly leading them down the alley towards the general store they were going to borrow from.

Soul was carrying a wad of cash in his breast pocket to leave behind at the general store. Marie had slipped him some and told him to try to sneak it into the register. They needed the stuff, and they needed to be pretty sneaky about it, but she did not feel good about stealing. Marie used to just buy stuff normally, since people were used to seeing her at the library. Then people questioned why one woman was buying enough food to feed a football team so she could no longer provide a decent amount of supplies. Also, they couldn't actually afford everything completely, and any money they left to compensate for what they took, was never enough to cover full costs.

Their mission was to get camping equipment for when they started to make their way to Medusa's headquarters. They'd have to do a few trips like this to various stores in the area so that their thievery would go unnoticed. This was just the first of several trips to get all the gear they needed to travel to, and infiltrate various Medusa strongholds, and eventually her main headquarters.

He followed Blackstar as they crept quietly down abandoned streets and alleys until they reached a nearby general store. The one they had chosen for their first raid.

Soul crept around the back of the building and knelt next to the basement window. He pulled at it experimentally, hoping it was unlocked and he would have to go through the effort of quietly taking it apart.

"Yes," he said quietly as the window slid open a couple inches.

"Shit," he hissed almost immediately after. The window stopped and wouldn't open more than four inches. He tried to slam it completely open a few times before he gave up to examine the situation. He took a small flashlight from his front pocket and shone it on the window. There was a small piece of wood wedged between the panels to keep the window from opening all the way.

He sighed heavily and laid flat on his stomach as close to the window as he could. Four inches wasn't a lot, but he could easily fit his arm in to try to fish out the wood. He heard a shuffle of footsteps approach him from behind.

"Dude, what's taking you so long," Blackstar said, standing above him.

"Aren't you supposed to play lookout up front?" Soul grunted as he jimmied the piece of wood loose. And slid the window fully open.

"It's like one in the morning, no one is out except for drunks, and they probably won't be out until last call anyways. Also you were taking too long."

"Unexpected hindrance," Soul responded holding the wooden wedge up for Blackstar to see.

"Oh. Well let's make up for lost time now, you're still the one that's gotta get in there dude, hustle."

Soul shrugged and climbed down through the window as quietly and carefully as possible. Once he was stable in the basement storeroom he pulled out his little flashlight and a list of supplies to get.

He rummaged around in the dark, passing things up one at a time to Blackstar who then stashed everything with their two backpacks.

Within twenty minutes Soul found himself shimmying back out the window and strapping his heavy backpack on.

They started walking silently back down the streets to the pub. They had just rounded a corner onto the street the pub was on when Soul saw a face he recognized. He pulled Blackstar back behind the building.

"Shh," he said looking into Blackstar's face intensely.

Surprisingly Blackstar caught on quickly and nodded.

"That is the guy that attacked Maka outside the pub before we joined up with you guys," Soul whispered.

"Do we take him out?" Blackstar asked with a glint in his eyes.

"I don't think we should, we're supposed to be pretty subtle so we can keep doing supply runs like this without being noticed."

"You're right noob. Good call," Blackstar nodded. Then he poked his head around the corner to see if the man was gone. "Is it a big grumpy looking mother fucker wearing a dirty trench coat?"

"Yeah, is he walking away?"

"Nah dude, he's right here," Blackstar said as he dodged a fist that came flying from around the corner.

"So much for subtlety," mumbled Soul as he sprung into action next to Blackstar.

The next few seconds were a blur of activity. Between Soul and Blackstar their sketchy attacker couldn't land a punch or take a break. If he was dodging one of them the other was throwing shots.

"This is the scum that tried to hurt Maka?" Blackstar grunted as he landed a kick to the guy's side.

"Yeah," Soul said, dodging a meaty fist.

"And she couldn't take this guy out? Man I've seen what that chick can do with just a textbook, this guy is a joke!" Blackstar cackled.

"So do we take him out and dispose of a corpse, or do we take him…in?"

"Who says you're taking me anywhere," the goon grunted as he flew at Soul with his arm cocked for a solid punch.

"I do, now bow before your God!" Blackstar said with a smile as he landed a finishing blow to the back of their attacker's head.

The guy dropped like so many sacks of potatoes with a dull thud and a puff of dust floated in the air above him.

"Jeeze Blackstar, did you have to kill him?" Soul asked as he checked for a pulse.

"Yeah man. This guy won't tell us anything useful. Medusa's got a lot of people working under her, but this level of minion doesn't know shit. He's seen our faces so we're better off disposing of his corpse than trying to gather up one of ours."

"Okay... But what do we do with the body?"

"Stein has all sorts of fucked up experiments in that big twisted brain of his, I'm sure he'll make use of this," Blackstar said with a sinister looking smile.

"That's sick," Soul said, disgust colouring his tone.

"The guy's dead anyways, better him than us, that lunatic will do his experiments wit hwhoever he bumps into first once he gets any sort of plans forming," Blackstar said as he turned a sickly pale. So he had been the victim of some that lunatic's sci-fi level of experimentation.

"Crap, so we have to drag this giant dead weight up a street without being noticed, and then all it the way down to headquarters without passing out?" Soul grumbled, his apathy threatening to take over.

"Yep, pick a side, if anyone sees us we're just dragging our drunk buddy to a hotel to pass out for the night."

"Fine," Soul said hoisting the man's left arm over his shoulders and trying to stand upright under the weight.

Luckily they made it up the street without further incident. The trouble started once they entered the back alley door into the back of the pub and locked it behind themselves. The stairs and hallways leading to the main chambers of the compound were narrow and the dead guy was definitely too heavy for just one of them to carry alongside. The hallways definitely did not fit three grown men standing shoulder to shoulder.

"We can just drag him behind us," Blackstar said with a shrug.

"And leave a trail of blood behind us?"

"The dude's wearing a giant leather trench coat, if we each grab a wrist and drag him behind us it'll be fine," Blackstar said with an exasperated sigh.

" _Oh,_ " Soul responded. For some reason he had pictured them dragging the body by the feet, leaving the head to bounce off of the concrete steps and a trail of sickening blood and brain matter.

"I don't know why you care so much about a dead guy _on the other team_ ," Blackstar grumbled at him as he pulled open the door in the ground and kicked the dead guy in first.

"Uh…I don't. I mean not really, but I haven't really taken part in many murders," Soul responded as he pulled the trap door shut behind the three of them.

"HA," Blackstar let out a bark of laughter before they silently dragged the dead body down the stairs and hallways to the main compound. They got to the large metal door and waited for Stein to let them in. Soul wasn't surprised to find Maka and the others still waiting up for them, all seated around the dining table engaged in assorted activities.

The sound of him and Blackstar entering the room was enough to draw the group's attention, even from the other end of the cavernous room.

"Soul!" Maka said excitedly running across the room to greet him. As she got closer she realized that they were carrying a person between them. Once she was a few feet away from them she asked, "Soul who is that…"

He could see clearly on her face the moment she realized her attacker was suspended between him and Blackstar. "Oh no, what happened?"

"Nothing serious," Blackstar responded.

"I saw him across the street, I didn't think he saw us so we tried to hide away from him, turns out I was wrong. He tried to attack us, but don't worry he didn't stand a chance against Blackstar and I."

"Why is he here though? Is he…"

"Yes yes he's dead. He doesn't really stand a chance against a god like myself you know. And besides I've got a trusty little follower here in your boyfriend," Blackstar said haughtily.

Maka rolled her eyes before responding. "So neither of you is hurt, but this moron is dead?" Soul nodded.

Maka continued, "And now you've decided to bring his corpse back here because…?"

"No body, no murder, no investigation, no problems for us! Besides if Stein gets bored and he needs a guinea pig for his experiments would you rather it be you, or this guy?"

"Ew. Good point. Need any help taking him up to the lab?"

"We got this Maka, thanks though," Soul responded hoisting the arm of the body more securely around his shoulders.

Him and Blackstar continued to walk towards the door on the other side of the table to get the body to Stein.

"Oh by the way guys, Marie is waiting up there to debrief you, and welcome home," Tsubaki said, smiling at them warmly from her place at the table.

"Oh Soul!" Maka called from behind them. "When you get back I have something to show you!"

The weight of the body suddenly wasn't as bad, as he started anticipating what it was that Maka wanted to show him.


	14. Chapter 14

After what felt like several hours Soul and Blackstar left Stein's lab. They were debriefed and asked to explain their entire encounter with the…deceased. When Blackstar explained that they thought Stein would want to use the cadaver he waved them away while his features twisted into a sick grin.

Soul shuddered at the idea of what was going through Stein's mind as they both turned to leave.

"I don't think I wanna know what's going to happen to that dude. All I know is he is definitely better off dead in this scenario."

Blackstar laughed as they reached the dining room, "It was a mercy killing from a merciful god."

"I guess everyone gave up and went to bed," Soul added as they made their way through the empty room to the residence hall.

"Ah well, get a good sleep, you did well today. And we all get the day off from training tomorrow so sleep in if you want dude! Night," Blackstar said through a yawn as he entered his and Tsubaki's shared bedroom.

Soul nodded his head in response and tried to enter his room carefully in case Maka was asleep.

"Oh hey Maka! I didn't think you'd still be up," Soul said as he plopped next to her on the bed.

She was lying on her stomach with a paperback book a few inches from her face.

"Well I said I had something to show you," she said as she pulled her knees up underneath her and sat down.

"You still want to show me tonight?"

"Yeah, unless you're too tired. But I figured since we don't have to be up for training we could stay up," she replied as she stood up and stretched.

"Alright, I'm still a little energized from the mission anyways," Soul said as he followed suit and stood up.

"I'm already ready, but you should suit up. I'll grab towels and meet you at the dining table."

"Suit up?"

"Swim trunks! I'm sure there's a pair in your drawer they had a bathing suit for me," she replied with a smile as she walked out the door.

"Swim trunks…" He mumbled to himself as he rifled through his drawers in the dresser.

Within a few minutes he threw on a pair of black swim trunks while leaving on his black t-shirt before he wandered down to the dining table where Maka was waiting for him.

"You found some! Great let's go!" She said excitedly dashing to one of the doors behind the table. She led him down corridors passed doors and rooms, even took a turn down a hallway that started to slant slightly downward.

"Maka, where are we going?"

"You'll see in just a second…and here we are!" She said stopping in front of an unremarkable door. It had a number 324 plaque next to it, but was otherwise unidentifiable from every other door they had passed.

"Are you sure we aren't lost? You took a lot of random turns and stuff, I lost track a while ago."

"Yes! I have an excellent memory for directions, come on," she replied as she pushed the door open.

Instantly he could smell chlorine. He followed her through the door.

"Whoa," he said taking in the giant Olympic sized swimming pool before him. None of the overhead lights were on, but he could see clearly in the lights shining from the bottom and sides of the pool.

"Its great right? And apparently everyone barely uses it. I figured the last time I went swimming it didn't go so well. And I thought, who better to have with me when I face down a large amount of water again, than you!" She said brightly.

"You aren't afraid to jump in even though you drowned in a past life?" He asked skeptically.

"Well the circumstances are a little different. But I am a bit nervous. That's why you're here. I used to love swimming though; I definitely want to overcome any residual nerves. You swim right?"

"Uh, yeah. Probably the only form of athleticism I was even okay with," he replied.

"Really? You've taken to everything so well here! Training with Blackstar, basketball…"

"Well, I was never very motivated back then. That and I had to play it safe, wouldn't want any injuries to keep me from practicing the piano."

"Oh right, of course," she said as she walked over to a chair on the pool deck and tossed their towels down. She looked at him nervously before continuing. "No judging, I wouldn't normally pick out such a…flashy swimsuit. This is just what they had in the drawer for me."

He shrugged in response as he started tugging off his t-shirt. As he was walking over to put his shirt on the chair Maka awkwardly took off her sweats. Underneath she was wearing a one-piece swimsuit, it was black and looked totally plain at first. Then he realized that the sides of the swimsuit were basically non-existent and consisted of crisscrossing strips of fabric. The whole effect was quite stunning, but he knew that Maka was a shy and self-conscious girl, so he could see how she'd be a little adverse to showing that much skin.

"I think it looks great Maks," he said hoping to make her feel better.

"Um, thanks," she said quietly. "I think Liz probably picked it out, she's a…riskier dresser sometimes."

He thought about Liz's never ending supply of skin-tight crop tops and cut off jean shorts. "Probably," he said with a chuckle. "Even in that swimsuit you're showing less skin than Liz on an average day."

Maka laughed, "True! Ready?"

He looked at her curiously.

"Last one in is Blackstar's jockstrap!" She yelled before tearing off to the pool and jumping right in.

"Oh shit!" He said running after her and cannonballing in.

They both resurfaced and pushed their sopping hair off of their faces.

"Man, I thought you'd be at least a little nervous getting in," he said paddling over to be closer to her.

"Naw, I really have always loved swimming. And a warm, clean, chlorinated pool is a lot different than a dark, turbulent river."

"How can you be so cavalier about the way you died?" He hadn't meant to ask so abruptly but he had been curious.

"I don't know…Maybe because we didn't _really_ die. And well, we're still here, and together so the outcome was kind of…worth it you know? Like maybe we have a whole new set of problems and constraints. But we got to leave so many demons in the past, and we have great new friends and a safe place to be, and we can keep getting to know each other."

He felt the same way, but in all honesty he still felt kind of guilty for wanting to kill himself in the first place.

"Soul?"

"Yeah, sorry I got thinking too much. You're definitely right. The circumstances that got us here were...not so great, but these last few weeks have been kind of awesome. I feel like…kind of free. More free than I have felt before. I know its weird because technically we have to stay in this crazy underground lair thing. But I can choose how to spend my free time, I don't have to practice songs I didn't choose and miss out on friends and life because of piano and…yeah."

"Awh, getting all sentimental. You big sap."

He splashed her.

"Hey don't be embarrassed," she said giggling and trying to shield her face from his splashing. "I hear all artists have a lot of feelings."

He kept splashing but started laughing as she had a harder time avoiding the onslaught of water.

"Come on Soul!" She said trying to splash him back.

He stopped abruptly and looked at her evilly.

"What?" She said, squinting at him suspiciously.

Instead of responding he dove under the water and swam towards her. He opened his eyes underwater to avoid getting kicked in the face. He saw her frantically trying to swim away but she hadn't reacted fast enough. He got close enough to grab one of her ankles and tug her back a few feet. He didn't actually want to scare her by pulling her under or anything. Just give her a reason to panic for a second or two.

He swam passed her and resurfaced a few feet away. He came up and took in a deep breath of air before he looked back at her. She was glaring at him.

"What," he said laughing, "I thought you were pro swimmer, what are you scared of?"

"Hmph," she grunted before she suddenly dove at him. She managed to swim the gap between them, put her hands on each of his shoulders and dunk him under before launching off of him to swim away.

He came up laughing hard enough that he was at risk of drowning. He swam to the side of the pool to hold onto a wall.

"It's so easy to rattle your cage Maka," he said still grinning.

"Why do you like to get me going so much!" She said huffily treading water a few feet away from him.

He could hazard a guess, but not one he wanted to share so he just shrugged.

"You make it easy, and it's fun," he replied.

She glared at him but he could tell she wasn't really upset.

"Do you want to swim a few lengths?" he asked, unsure what they should be doing at this point.

"Yeah, okay," she responded before gracefully diving below the surface and swimming away. Her long form cut through the water easily.

He kicked off the wall and started to swim parallel to her. They swam the length of the pool, back and forth silently for almost ten minutes before Soul felt tired.

He stopped at the shallow end of the pool and lay back to float belly up while he waited for Maka to finish.

About a minute later he felt her swim up to him and tap him on the shoulder.

"Tired?"

"Yeah a little," he responded standing upright in the shallows of the pool. He made his way over to the edge of the pool and hoisted himself up to sit on the ledge, his feet still dangling in the water. She floated passed him lazily as he looked on. The eventfulness of the day had finally caught up to him and his shoulders started to slouch and he felt his eyelids droop a little. Maka hoisted herself out of the pool and settled on the ledge next to him.

"So how was it leaving?" She asked.

"I did think much of it at first, but I felt a breeze when we walked outside and I never realized how much I took the wind for granted," he finished with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I miss the sun, and quiet evening breezes," she said quietly.

"You should ask to go next time Maka."

"Maybe…Was it scary seeing that guy again?"

"Not really. We've been preparing to fight like that and honestly it felt pretty good to use all this new strength," he hadn't really thought of it until Maka asked, but he knew it was true. She had a tendency to make him actually experience his thoughts and feelings, rather than them just happening outside of his awareness. "And that guy earned a solid ass kicking."

"Well, you guys didn't just kick his ass…you killed him."

He turned his head a little to get a better look at her, he couldn't really read her tone and it was making him anxious. She was still staring at her feet as she slowly moved them back and forth through the water.

"Does that bother you?" He asked, uncertainty shading his tone.

"Not really. Do you think it should?" She asked turning slightly to meet his gaze.

"No. That guy attacked you, and he's clearly a brute. Someone who has been pretty violent in the name of supporting Medusa's cause."

"You think so?"

He nodded.

"What did it feel like to kill a person? We'll probably have to do it again. If not her flunkies then Medusa herself at some point," she said.

"I don't know."

She looked at him questioningly, head tilted slightly to one side.

"I wasn't the one who landed the finishing blow. I wasn't evening fighting to kill to be honest. It happened really fast and I didn't really know what the best course of action would be. Blackstar seized the moment though and just put a boot to the back of his head. It was logically the right call in retrospect, but I was just following Blackstar's lead. I wasn't even as violent as when I attacked your ex. _That_ guys face would probably have been unrecognizable to you even after it healed."

She smiled at him a little, "Did I say thanks for that yet?"

"You did," he said smiling back.

"Well thanks again," she said still smiling.

"Anytime," he said with a wink. He realized then just how close together they were. They were sitting right next to each other initially, and over the course of the conversation they had leaned in even closer. If he leaned in even a little bit more their foreheads would be touching. He could even lean in just a few inches and kiss her if he wanted. Even as the thought crossed his mind they had both leaned in just a little bit.

And then the next part happened so fast that he didn't even realize what had happened until it was over.

They were about to kiss, he could tell! But in the same instant he realized so had Maka. He could tell because the shock registered on her face and her eyes had gotten so wide. Within an instant of her eyes popping open he felt her hand in the middle of his back and then suddenly he was in the water.

He stood up and pushed his hair out of his eyes while spitting out some of the water he had almost swallowed from the shock of his surprise dunk.

"What the hell Maka!" He grunted, glaring at her. She was still seated on the ledge of the pool. The real killer was that she was _laughing_.

"Sorry…I thought you needed to cool down," she said trying to bite back some of her giggles. He narrowed his eyes and snarled at her. His snarls were pretty scary if he said so himself, the pointy teeth really helped.

As quickly as he could he launched retaliation. He doused her in a really big splash and used the moment she took to wipe the water from her eyes to reach out of the water, grab her by the waist and pulled her into the water too.

"If I need to cool down than so do you," he said, crossing his arms as she stood up a few feet away from him in the shallows.

Thankfully she was smiling and nodded as if to say ' _Fair enough.'_

Now he didn't know how to feel. Had he read the situation wrong? Should he be embarrassed? Ashamed? Apologetic? Was she trying to turn him down gently by making it a game? Either way, if she was going to act like nothing happened than he had no choice but to do so as well.

"Now if you're done trying to drown me, can we pleeease go to bed? I still want a hot shower and to sleep until the next time we have training," he said whining.

"Yes, you big baby," she said turning and hoisting herself back out of the pool.

He shuffled behind Maka as she led him back through the labyrinth of the compound to their room. As quickly as he could muster he gathered what he needed and headed for the showers. He was shivering from still being cold from the pool and was waiting for the shower to be steaming hot before he jumped in.

His eyelids felt dangerously heavy as he lathered the shampoo into his hair and the soap onto his body. He stood silently trying to stay awake as he watched the suds run off his body and circle the drain. With a big sigh he made sure there was no more shampoo left in his hair before turning off the water and wrapping himself tightly in the plush towel. He didn't even wait for his hair to stop dripping before he shuffled slowly to his room. He remembered to knock quietly before entering, lest he accidentally intrude on Maka. But then again, who was he kidding, she was an efficient girl, except when it came to showers. She'd be gone for a solid fifteen to twenty minutes and come back still in a towel.

He pulled on his shorts, wrapped a towel tightly on his head and flopped onto the bed. Maka would probably scold him for climbing into bed with wet hair, but he just couldn't be bothered to care.

Why was he so tired? The mission had gone reasonably well, and even the attack they endured had seemed like a trivial inconvenience now. Granted he had been awake for well over twelve hours at this point. And at the time of the fight he did get a bit of an adrenaline rush… Maybe this was the crash after the high. He let out a big tired sigh as his eyes fluttered shut. He felt the pull of sleep but was interrupted by a small knock at the door.

"Mhmmm," he called in response.

The door creaked open a couple inches.

"Does that mean I can come in?" Maka asked through the crack with eyes closed tightly.

"Yes yes," he mumbled, closing his eyes again.

She walked in and closed the door behind her. "Keep your eyes closed," she said.

"I know the drill. I don't get how you can spend twenty minutes in the shower and still not be clothed when you get back." He said groggily.

"It was _not_ twenty minutes," she said indignantly as he heard her shuffling around the room.

"Mmmm just about though," he replied, knowing full well she might throw something at him if he irked her enough.

"Whatever, and you know what…oh damn it Soul, get off the bed before your hair soaks through and it gets all soggy."

"Makaaa," he whined. "I'm too tired to blow dry it.

"Okay… well just sit up, I will help."

"Help?"

"I'll do it for you, and I'll even do yours before I do mine so you can sleep. Cry baby," she replied pulling the hair dryer from the vanity and plugging it in behind the nightstand.

He complied and sat on the side of the bed closest to the hair dryer. He sat there with his eyes closed as she ran her fingers through his hair and blasted it with hot air from the blow dryer. It actually felt really nice having someone do it for him. Her fingers combing through his hair was really soothing and relaxing and he found himself leaning into it and struggling to stay awake. Maka had forced him to dry his hair before bed many times before but he hated it. It took a long time for his thick mop to dry and he got tired of standing in front of the vanity and lifting his arms to hold the dryer.

But this was much better.

When she stopped it was almost all too soon. Almost because he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep.

"Thanks Maks," he mumbled as he crawled under the covers.

"That felt nice, way better than when I do it myself," he mumbled sleepily.

"You're welcome. Don't think that means I'll always do that for you though. You big baby," she said as she moved away from the bed to blow dry her own hair at the vanity.

He chuckled a little but then fell asleep before he even heard Maka start the hair dryer up again.

Maka stared at her reflection as she tried to dry her hair enough to not make her pillow all soggy. She ran her fingers through her hair as she blasted the strands with heat. She looked at her face closely in the reflection.

 _What happened today?_ She thought as she continued to mindlessly dry her hair. Did she and Soul almost kiss? She was surprised that the idea did not repulse her, given her past experiences with men. More surprising was how nervous it made her. Whether it was a good sign or not, she was not ready to let herself go there with _anyone_ yet. Not with the dangers her and Soul would be facing soon. With the instability of the world around them and their past demons still peering at them from the shadows she found it hard to trust any happiness she felt. Ultimately she couldn't speak for Soul, he seemed to be thriving in their new environment, especially based on what she could remember from their past. But every once in a while she could still see a haunted look in his eyes.

Did he see the same in hers? She put the hair dryer away, satisfied with her, mostly dry, hair.

After turning on the lamp on her nightstand she turned off the overhead light and crawled into bed next to the snoring Soul.

The snoring stopped a little as he rolled over in bed and tossed an arm across her.

"Soul?"

The only response was even breathing.

"Soul," she whispered again a little more loudly.

"Hmm?" He said groggily.

"Was it nice to get a break from me?" She asked, thinking about the endless hours they'd spent together, essentially since they met.

"Hm?"

"You know, we haven't really been apart since we met fifty whatever years ago," she whispered.

"No… You're pretty dumb for a smart girl," he mumbled.

"Rude," she mumbled as he started snoring again.

"You're rude," he mumbled back.

She smiled to herself in the dark of their room as she settled in under Soul's arm.

Eventually sleep took over, and then just as suddenly it felt like she was hurled back to awareness. She was standing at the top of a cliff, a high cliff, but not so high that she couldn't make out the writhing figures at the bottom. It looked like the cliff was overlooking a lake of tar except that it was haunted by ghostly figures writhing just below the surface reaching clawed fingers up to the sky as if trying to invite her in.

She looked around to take in her surroundings. It was foggy and all she could see was a few gnarled looking bare grey trees dotting what landscape was visible through the fog. Except to her left where Soul was kneeling and peering over the edge. He was in tattered clothes and shaking violently, his eyes wide with fear.

"Soul?"

He turned his head slowly to look at her.

"Maka?"

"Where are we?"

"I…I don't know."

"Have you been here before?"

"Yes," he said sadly, turning back to facing the black sludge lake.

"Soul, I think this is a nightmare."

"You're probably right," he said monotonously, not turning away from the lake.

"Let's leave, I don't like it here."

"I don't know how Maka, I don't come here by choice."

"How do you normally get out of here?"

He swallowed audibly and turned to face her again. "Someone pushes me in. The monsters drag me under, the black sludge fills up my nose, my mouth, my lungs. When everything is blackness, I wake up."

"Every time?" She asked.

He nods.

"Do you know who is pushing you in?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's me but a twisted darker version of me. Sometimes it's a faceless dark creature. Sometimes it's my father, sometimes it's…"

"Who?"

"You," he said with a grimace.

"Oh Soul…I would never." She said as she reached out a hand to him.

He flinched and she felt tears well up in her eyes. "Soul I promise I would never do that to you."

He looked more closely at her squinting. "Are you really here? Not just a part of my dream?"

"Yeah, I think somehow I got sucked in."

"Will you please not leave me here?" He asked sadly.

"If we go anywhere it will be together."

"So, you promise you'll never leave me?" He looked at her eyes wide, fear still lurking behind them.

She was taken aback by his words, but her own response tumbled out. "I promise."

"Don't write cheques you can't cash," a voice hissed from the fog.

"It's coming," Soul said.

"What is?"

"The evil me that usually pushes me in."

"Why don't we just jump, together? We'll wake up togethe. It'll be over."

"I…I've never just jumped in…"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on let's go Soul, we'll wake up together and it will be over and we won't have to face the evil you." She really didn't want to see an even more messed up version of Soul. This sad, scared one was scary enough.

"Okay," he said hesitantly.

He grabbed her hand tightly.

They counted together to three before jumping in.

It was _horrible_. The back sludge was thick and sticky and immediately filled her nose and blocked up her eyes. She could feel the hands of the creatures grasping at her, pulling her in deeper. She could not resurface and it took all of her willpower not to scream. The only thing keeping her sane during the experience was the warmth of Soul's hand in hers. She was suspended in both the heavy weight of the sludge and yet nothing at all. Her lungs were screaming and it felt so frighteningly real and like the time she drowned. Then her body gave up, just like in the river and the sludge filled her lungs and then she was awake.

Soul sat up next to her covered in a thin layer of sweat yet shaking violently.

"Maka?" The word came out between chattering teeth.

"Yeah. I'm here."

"Were you…"

"Yeah…I was there too, for real. How often do you have that nightmare?"

"Uhm, like twice a week," he said rubbing his own arms in an attempt to stop the shivering.

"Why did you never tell me?" She asked, unable to mask the sadness in her voice.

"It's just a stupid nightmare it doesn't mean anything," he said trying to shrug it off.

"It's not _nothing_. You said saw me pushing you into that…that nightmare pit…And it was so real to you when we were there."

"Well of course it feels real when it's happening. But it's not. Haven't you ever had a dream Maka? It's only reality until you wake up."

She couldn't shake the visual of him looking up at her with fear in his eyes, and the way he implored her to stay with him.

"I guess. But it's more than your standard dream if you're sucking other people into it."

He reached behind his head and scratched his neck, "Yeah…Sorry."

"Don't be, clearly not an intentional move on either of our part."

He nodded. "Can we just try to sleep now?" He asked, exhaustion audibly in his voice.

"Yeah Soul, roll over and come closer."

He followed her direction and she snuggled closely against him, hoping it was enough to keep the nightmares at bay.

She waited patiently for him to fall asleep while running her fingers through his hair trying to calm his heart rate and his breathing. It didn't take very long as he was still exhausted from the days events and likely even the nightmare. Soon enough the air was punctuated by his little snores.

The hard part would be for her to fall asleep. Her mind would not stop racing around what this shared dream experience could possibly mean. Logically she understood that she couldn't possibly figure it out tonight, let alone without Dr. Stein's insight, however, she was guilty of constantly over-thinking in almost any situation.

She sighed and tried to keep her mind tuned to the even rhythm of Soul's breathing next to her. Eventually sleep took over, her last thought being relief that they had no reason to wake up early tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 15

Maka woke up around 10:00 a.m. feeling surprisingly refreshed. Less surprising was the fact that Soul remained sound asleep. She left their room, showered, got ready, and headed out to find some breakfast, all the while Soul remained in a deep sleep, filling their room with quiet snores. She hoped that she would find one of the others to ask about the whole dream-sharing thing. Preferably she'd find someone like Tsubaki or Kidd who could seriously field her questions.

After finding something quick and simple to eat in the kitchen she back-tracked to the common room where Liz and Tsubaki were watching the local weather channel.

"Morning! What are you two doing up?" Maka asked cheerfully as she settled into her favourite spot on the huge plush couch.

"I'm so used to getting up at 7:00 a.m. to train with Blackstar that sleeping until 9:00 a.m. felt like plenty of extra," Tsubaki said cheerfully.

"I figured everyone would be asleep so I could do some real business in the bathroom. You know what I mean?"

"I don't actually," Maka replied to Liz.

"Waxing, bleaching, et cetera. All the things you don't want people knowing you actually do," she said waving a well-manicured hand at her.

"What are you doing up Maka?" Tsubaki asked.

"Kind of the same as you. Woke up, felt okay getting up, so I did. Weather channel?"

"They show pictures of outside," Liz shrugged.

Maka nodded in understanding, she really was starting to miss outside.

"I do have a question for you guys…" she started timidly.

Both girls turned to look at her intently.

"Was it your first time?" Liz asked very seriously. "Was it okay?"

"What?...What! No! No. It was…wait, you think I'm a virgin?" Maka said.

Liz squinted at her, "Are you not?"

"No…why?"

"You give this very…innocent, borderline prudish vibe…"

"Anyways! What is your question Maka," Tsubaki said interrupting.

"Oh right well…have you guys ever gone into someone else's dream? Since coming here?"

"You were sucked into one of Soul's dreams then?" Liz said nonchalantly.

Maka nodded.

"Well you know how the professor described you and Soul as being connected from before you were even brought here? And that was how you both came here together and landed near each other? Well that connection goes deeper than we really understand, and at the very least we know that your consciousness is deeply connected with Soul's. So it would make sense that you would occasionally get pulled into different aspects of each other's minds, specifically dreams," Tsubaki responded.

"So it has happened before?" Maka asked.

"Frequently," Liz said with a shrug. "And it is not always pleasant. Given our histories most of our more intense dreams aren't good ones."

Tsubaki nodded along knowingly. All Maka could do was nod her understanding and collapse deeper into the couch.

"Was it really bad Maka?" Tsubaki asked quietly.

"Yeah. Apparently it's a recurring nightmare too. And _apparently_ my previous appearances in this particular dream weren't very pleasant. This was the only time I actually was there though."

They both nodded and then Liz turned back to the TV. She picked up the remote and started flipping through.

"So Marie is calling a big meeting for tomorrow. We get to skip training again!" Tsubaki said cheerfully.

"Isn't a big meeting kind of a bad thing usually?" Liz said casually.

"No, it just means something big."

Maka looked on quietly as they bickered back and forth, about previous meetings and what it all means, and who said what when.

An hour and a half later she wandered back to her room to see if Soul was awake yet.

She knocked first just to be sure she wouldn't walk in on anything. When there was no response after a few seconds she walked in closing the door behind her. She had at this point gotten pretty good at locating the lamp on her bedside table in the dark. She flicked it on and found that Soul was still in bed.

"Ugggghhhh turn off the light," he grunted from under the blanket.

"I will not! It's practically lunch. You should get up now, or you won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Always have to be the voice of reason eh Maka?" he said as he sat up.

"If I said I only nag because I care would that make you feel better?" She said as she slumped onto the bed.

"Kind of actually…you okay?"

"Yes yes. I asked the girls if the dream thing happens to them too."

"Why did I think we would be able to just let that go?" He grunted falling back into his pillow.

"Soul…it was kinda scary, why wouldn't I see if it happens to other people here?"

"Yeah I guess. So it happens then? To other people?"

"Yeah, connected consciousness and whatnot, sometimes it means dream sharing."

"Right."

"Soul, I'm sorry you keep having that shitty nightmare. And I'm sorry I've turned up in that dream before…"

"You're letting that bother you? I know you would never intentionally hurt me. It's just a crappy nightmare."

"Yes. I believe that you believe that. But at some level in your mind you must have some fear or doubt or something about me."

He looked at her then. It was a look she could not really interpret.

"What?"

"Nothing Maka. Just don't worry about it. If I did have any doubts before even dream me has to get over it after you jumped into that pit with me," he said giving her a small smile.

She smiled back but still felt uneasy about the whole thing. "Alright. Well you still have to get up now."

"But why?"

"Because if you get bed sores on your ass I will not help you deal with them okay?"

He laughed as he rolled out of the bed and wandered to gather what he needed from the vanity.

"I will hit the showers, eat a healthy lunch, and whatever else you insist on coach," he said laughing as he closed the door behind him.

Soul had forgotten that everyone else would've slept in too and that he wouldn't necessarily get the showers to himself. He stepped into the men's facilities and was greeted by steam, the sound of the showers already running, and Blackstar singing obnoxiously loud from the depths of the steam.

"Star! Shut up! You're not the only one in here anymore."

"He never was to begin with," a surly looking Kidd said popping his head from around the corner of the showers.

Soul laughed as Blackstar continued to sing loudly. Not that Blackstar was a good singer, but he found the light-hearted atmosphere helpful after the rough night.

He dove into the cloud of steam and found his usual shower stall unoccupied. He tried to really take his time and unwind, normally he was in and out really quickly, but he wanted to savor the break from training. As he was enjoying the feel of the hot water Blackstar started singing along to some pop song with an aggressively repetitive chorus.

"This is _not_ good music Star," Soul tried to yell over the music.

"Oh and how would _you_ recognize good music nerrrrrd," Blackstar called back.

He sighed heavily in his steamy shower stall, "Plenty actually."

"So why do we get today off from training anyways? Does this happen often?" Soul asked as he lathered the shampoo in his hair.

"We don't generally get days off except for special occasions. Usually after a team completes a difficult mission or everyone is sick or something like that." Kidd replied from his own shower stall.

"Or, they're about to tell us big news," Blackstar added.

"Is that good or bad news usually?" Soul asked trying to keep the concern from his voice.

"Well that is a simple question that requires an intricate answer Soul. Unfortunately we can't be in the showers all day. Here's the thing, it is always just news. Good and bad? Very subjective. Besides, that's a very black and white question in a very grey world," Kidd replied cryptically as each of them turned their showers off.

Soul stepped out while wrapping himself in his towel in time to see Kidd's back exiting the showers. He looked over at Blackstar who was gathering his belongings.

"Dude, sometimes its good for us but bad for the other guys, and sometimes its bad for us and good for the other guys. In the end it usually involves a death count and some shitty political stuff that only makes sense to Tsubaki and Kidd." Blackstar slapped him on the back and left the room, leaving Soul alone to dry up and think about what might be happening above ground.

With another heavy sigh he continued his routine, brushing his teeth, hair, etc. He was about to trade the towel in for his clothes when he changed his mind. Looking at the stupid skinny jeans he normally wore and his still damp legs he decided the struggle wasn't worth it. He looked at the crumpled sweatpants he wore into the bathroom and decided to hold out for a fresh pair from his room. He slowly gathered his belongings into the shower caddy before shouldering his way out of the bathroom and trudging across the hall to his room.

"Alright Maks, I cleaned up and whatever, but I am not giving up the sweats today. And in my defense, before you get on my case, I had a long night last night and…" He trailed off as he turned around and realized that Maka was curled up and asleep on their shared bed.

"Well now who is being lazy," Soul mumbled as he put his shower caddy away.

He got dressed quickly into a new set of comfy clothes before going to wake Maka up.

She woke up to the sensation of being gently poked on the shoulder. She wasn't ready to open her eyes so she tried to ignore it and roll over. Then she was being gently shook.

"Makaaaaaaa," she heard Soul whining close to her ear.

"Ughhh what," she sat up feeling disoriented.

"I was only in the showers for like ten minutes and you fell asleep. Hypocrite."

"Right, sorry," she mumbled back. There were reasons she didn't like to nap. Waking up confused was one of them.

"You wanna come with me? I wanna find something to eat before the meeting with Stein."

She looked over at the clock to check the time. "It is almost lunch, I'm sure the others are already at the table actually."

He opened his mouth to respond when his stomach replied for him, with a loud extended grumble.

He smiled sheepishly, "Let's go then."

They were walking down the hallway away from the residential area when Soul's stomach growled loudly again.

"Just tell him to wait a few more minutes," Maka said, finally feeling awake.

"Tell who what?" Soul replied.

"Your stomach. Tell it to wait. We're on our way."

He looked down and prodded his stomach as she pushed open the door into the giant room containing the dining table.

"I don't think he'll …understand," he said laughing a little.

She shrugged, "It doesn't look like you'll have to wait long." Tsubaki was approaching the table with a giant tray of sandwiches as Soul and her joined the others already gathered there.

"Alright! Egg salad, ham and cheese, tuna salad. Man I love sandwiches, so much variety." Blackstar cheered diving into the sandwich platter with enthusiasm.

"Hey man, save some for the rest of us!" Soul said pouncing on the nearest sandwiches.

Everyone else started politely taking what was left on the platter. "So does the meeting start right after this?" Patti asked from around a mouthful of egg salad.

"I imagine once we clean up we'll have heard from Marie," Kidd replied holding a wedge of tuna salad sandwich daintily between two fingers.

"What do you think it will be about?" Maka asked reaching for another quarter of a sandwich. She was looking for a ham and cheese, her favourite.

"Not really. But we usually have some time of meeting every once in a while. You guys have been here for almost three months now, and we just had a team leave the compound, only to come back dragging a body, so I can see why they might want to talk to us," Liz replied.

"Fair," Maka replied as the others nodded along.

The crew chattered away as the pile of sandwiches steadily shrank. Maka looked on the group quietly, just enjoying the company of so many amazing people. It struck her as Liz said it, they really had been there a while now. Her and Soul managed to comfortably drop into the same routine as all their fellow time displaced roommates. They all trained, ate, played, and killed time together without knowing much more than the basics about each other. It only took two months but she had grown fond of everyone there, even Stein, in his own way, offered some sense of…belonging.

"Well, _my_ stomach is done," Soul said standing up to rub his belly.

"Not so fast pal," Maka said, grabbing the end of his shirt. "We're on dish duty together, and I'm not doing it alone just because you stuffed yourself and need a nap. Not again anyways."

His bottom lip stuck out into a pout, but he started gathering dishes off the table anyways.

As she was stacking up the last of the dishes Maka looked up to find Marie striding into the room from one of the random doors along the walls.

"Oh good! You're all still here!" She said with a smile. "We're hoping to give you a little time to rest your stomachs and then have the meeting in about an hour?"

"Works for me," said Blackstar as he stood up. "I need to nap hard."

"We've only been up for a few hours," Tsubaki said quietly as she followed suit.

"You saw how much I ate, my stomach will need lots of time to come to terms with that," he replied as he turned his back to the group and headed for their room.

"Alright, see you soon Marie!" Tsubaki said waving as she disappeared through the door to the residential hallway.

Maka followed Soul down the hallways to the kitchen where they started filling up the large metal sink with dishes and soapy water.

"Whoa, that's a lot of soap Maks," Soul said as he watched her squeeze a solid amount of dish soap into the sink.

"Tuna _and_ egg salad Soul. That's the smelly stuff. Besides we wanna make sure everything really is disinfected. What would we do if someone got sick?"

"I'm sure if the nutty professor can hijack time, curing food poisoning is just a joke."

"Let me put it this way then, do you want to go to the professor all vulnerable? Dehydrated, in pain, vomiting diarrhea…"

"You sound like an ad for pepto," he said laughing.

"Well you sound like a rich kid who never had to do his own dishes anyways," she said through a handful of suds at his face.

"Low blow Maka," he said, looking genuinely hurt.

"S-sorry…" she replied reaching into the suds to find the dishes.

"I don't know if I'll be able to recover from this one," he said as he started to fake crying into his hands. "I don't think I'll be able to help you with the rest of the dishes!" He added as he collapsed to the floor dramatically.

"Oh my god Soul, fine I will do the dishes, will you at least dry them?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" He said with a grin as he bounced back onto his feet.

"You aren't a very good actor you know," she said after a few moments of silent scrubbing.

"It worked on you didn't it?" He said with a shark-toothed grin and a wink.

She rolled her eyes in response. He did get to see the softer side of her, not a side she typically shared with others, but he had already seen her at her most vulnerable.

Not more than ten minutes later they were back in their room. Soul trying to nap and Maka doing some reading. She set an alarm to make sure they would leave on time. She was known to get lost in a book for hours and Soul…was good at napping.

After about forty-five minutes of getting lost in her adventure fantasy novel she was jarred back to reality by the alarm.

Soul managed to slam the alarm off as he grumbled about "just getting to the good part" of his dream.

"What was your dream about?" she asked, as she marked her place in the book and put it on her bedside table.

He flushed a little as he sat up to answer her. "Well…it was more like…more like reliving one of our memories from the past."

"Which one was it?" She asked, genuinely curious now.

"Oh just that first night we met," he said. It was like he was holding something back still.

"Anything else?"

"Nope." He replied quickly. Although she was still suspicious she had to let it go. It was time to meet the others.

She was a little anxious as she followed Soul out of their room to go to the meeting. This meeting was highly anticipated as she had never been to a full team meeting. Even Doctor Stein was taking time away from his research and experiments to tell them something important. She sighed heavily as the door clicked shut behind them.

"What's bothering you?" Soul asked her.

"Nothing."

"Sighhhhh," he said, mocking her. "I speak Maka, you can't expect me to believe nothing is bothering you."

She looked over at him briefly before responding. "Okay fine, I'm a little anxious about this meeting."

"Why? They have these all the time. Star told me."

"What if it's different this time? Or what if this changes everything? What if we all have to separate or something?"

"It seems unlikely that we'd be separated for any real length of time. And it's okay if things change. It doesn't mean it's going to be a change for the worse. Or that it's not something we can adapt to together anyways. And regardless of what anyone wants, even Stein, I'm not leaving you behind anywhere."

"Okay okay. You're right. And we've been training to get something done so I guess we've got to start somewhere."

"That's the spirit now let's go meet the others," he said tugging one of her pigtails.

She swatted at his hand as she followed him down the residence hallway.

Everyone was already gathered at the table as they sat down to join them.

Marie had brought out a carafe of tea and was pouring a few mugs for those who wanted some.

"Tea?" Marie asked her and Soul as they settled in.

"Oh yes please," Maka replied.

"Soul?" Marie asked holding up a mug.

"Sure, thanks," Soul answered accepting a steaming mug from Marie.

"Okay Professor, what's the deal?" Blackstar asked.

"Well, I know how you all enjoy living underground and you love your rigorous training schedule, but it's finally time to take action. I've come across a way to reverse all that Medusa and her followers have created for themselves."

"Ah yes the fall of a regime. I can only imagine this will be rather bothersome," Kidd said dryly as he pulled his mug closer, staring at the steam curling out.

"Not quite as difficult as you might imagine I have been working on a rather special device. However, travelling to the capital and infiltrating Medusa's headquarters will not be remotely easy. We will have to move mostly undercover and we will not be able to act without some force, particularly as we get closer and closer to Medusa."

"Wait, reverse everything? Even the time skips?" Soul asked, glaring at his own mug.

"Not entirely, the time that has passed will still exist. For us."

"So we'll remember everything? Do we return to the moment we left our prior timeline?" Maka asked. She wasn't sure whether that would be a good thing or not as she considered the circumstances of her departure in the first place.

"For the most part. Certainly your physical selves will remain as you are in this timeline. And it was with the intention of keeping your minds and memories intact that I designed this machine. But I have no way of really testing that out."

"So if we all go back, any of us affected by the time anyways, how will we keep Medusa from starting over in the original timeline?" Liz asked.

"That's obvious," Patti chimed in.

Everyone looked over at her in surprise. She wasn't exactly tactically inclined.

"We kill her in this timeline. No Medusa here, no Medusa to send back in time."

Everyone looked back to Stein for confirmation. His face had split into a grin. "Exactly."

"How do we plan to do all that?"

Soul grumbled.

"Well if everyone would save their questions I could finish telling you my plan," Stein responded, his typical apathy being replaced with irritation.

"Well get on with it then for fuck's sake," Blackstar said slapping his palm on the table.

"We travel by foot a majority of the way. If we make it as far as Idaho where I have a safe house we'll be able to use the specially designed, armoured vehicle I have there. From there we can drive almost entirely to Washington, as long as we go mostly unnoticed."

"Mostly?" Tsubkai said, interrupting Stein.

"Do you truly expect Medusa won't have people specifically dedicated to detection and destruction of her enemies?"

"I understand. Sorry for the interruption Professor."

"Using what I know of secret tunnels and entrances, and the skills you've been honing these past few months, we will have to infiltrate Medusa's headquarters using stealth and strength. Once inside we find her, end her, and detonate the time machine."

"Do we all still get to be friends?" Patti asked quietly.

"Of course!" Tsubaki exclaimed passionately.

"Well that's not necessarily true. We came from all over the place. All of us from different times and spaces. How would we find each other?" Kidd added.

"Couldn't we just write down the time and place we came from and maybe an address or something. Just simple ways to track each other down when the dust has settled?" Maka added.

"That would work!" Marie said.

"Actually," Stein started. "Even if we all just gave that information to Maka and Soul and they could help us reunite. They were the last to arrive so it would be logical to assume that they were the last to leave our timeline. Once they return we will know that everyone has returned. Is this appropriate Maka, Soul?"

"Yes! Definitely!" Maka exclaimed.

She looked over at Soul who was nodding along enthusiastically. Soul had really come out of his shell in their time at the underground compound. He used to recoil in the presence of the people in the room, now he was part of bringing them all back together. One day.

"Okay, so when do we leave?" Blackstar asked loudly.

"One week from now. The remainder of this week will involve half days of training and then using the rest of the day to close up the compound."

"It's gonna take a week to do that?" Soul asked incredulously.

"Hopefully that's all it takes. I'd like to leave on time," Stein replied.

She shared a worried glance with Soul. How big was this place?

"To simplify things we will split you into your pairings and give each group a specific portion of the compound to clean and prepare for lock up. Here are the maps with already highlighted specific areas for each group," Marie said as she handed out colour coded maps for each group.

Maka reached for her and Soul's map, unsure of what to expect.

"So starting tomorrow report for training at 9:00 am. Training will be concluded by noon and then you should be starting the compound shut down procedures by 1:00 pm. On the back of your maps is a list of duties to accomplish in each room and hallway. You will find a supply cart for each group here starting tomorrow. It will have everything you need to fulfill your duties appropriately. Don't cut corners or I'll cut you, understand?" Stein said, sounding almost as though he'd relish the opportunity to cut into a living human.

The group nodded, the discomfort visible in each of their faces.

And with that dark note the team of mismatched time travellers marched off to the residence hallway where they all opted to decompress in the lounge.

"We've never all had to leave before," Liz said.

"Nor have we ever had to shut down the compound. There's so much of it we never even saw in the first place. This will be a lengthy process," Kidd added.

"But also pretty fun," Maka felt the need to add. Seeing all the different rooms they'd be exploring over the next week.

"Who knew we even had all these resources," Soul said looking over at the map she had spread across her knees.

"Well I knew about some of it. But with training being as intensive as it was we never really made time to check out many areas," Tsubaki said from her corner of the couch next to Blackstar.

They all sat together in contemplative silence. After this week they'd all be thrown into a dangerous new situation. It would take days and days for them to hike to Stein's safe house in Idaho. It was almost halfway to the capital. And that's assuming they wouldn't encounter much resistance on the way.

"We've trained really hard for a while. I'm sure we'll be okay," Soul said from next to her. "Besides we'll have Stein with us and he's terrifying."

She looked over at Soul noting the unease in his face. She felt the laughter starting in her chest and didn't even try to hold it in. The giggles bubbled out of her and before she knew it he rest of their team was joining in.

"You don't even know the half of it dude," Blackstar added as the room quieted down again. "I wandered into a room off of the back of his lab upstairs. It was nightmare fuel."

"Alright, I'm going to my room before Blackstar says anything that will haunt me forever," Liz said as she got up from the couch.

"Might as well join you," Kidd said following her lead.

Everyone else got up too, opting to find anywhere else to be before Blackstar could say anything more. After Tsubaki got up Blackstar decided to follow her out of the room.

Soon it was just Maka and Soul again.

"Hey Maka, did you ever remember what happened after we shook hands that first night?" Soul asked.

"No…why? Have you?"

"Uh no don't worry about it."

"What! You can't do that Soul! Did you remember something important? I want to know."

"If I did, I wouldn't tell you anyways," he said trying to keep his tone neutral.

Why wasn't he letting her know what this was about? Did she do something embarrassing? Did he?

She was about to open her mouth to insist on the full truth when he stood up abruptly.

"I challenge you to a winner take all game of 21," he said racing for the door.

When she glared at him rather than follow him he added, "Last one to the basketball court has to ask Blackstar why he refers to himself as a god!"

"What! No!" She managed to reply. And with that the door was swinging shut behind him.

"Damn it Soul," she mumbled to herself as she jumped off the couch to try to catch up to him.


End file.
